The Relative Age of Animals.
The average age of cats is fifteen years; of squirrels and hares, seven or eight years; a bear rarely exceeds twenty years; a wolf, twenty; a fox, fourteen or fifteen; lions are long-lived, the one known by the name of Pompey living to the age of seventy. Elephants have been known to live to the age of 400 years. When Alexander the Great had conquered Porus, king of India, he took a great elephant which had fought valiantly for the king, named him Ajax, dedicated him to the sun, and let him go with this inscription: "Alexander, the son of Jupiter, dedicated Ajax to the sun." The elephant was found with this inscription 350 years later. Pigs have been known to live to the age of twenty, and the rhinoceros to twenty-nine. A horse has been known to live to the age of sixty-two, but the average is twenty-five or thirty. Camels sometimes live to the age of 100. Sheep seldom exceed the age of ten; cows, fifteen. Cuvier considers it probable that whales sometimes live 1,000 years. An eagle died at Vienna at the age of 104. Ravens have frequently reached the age of 100; swans, 300. A tortoise has been known to live to the age of 107.—Sel.