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On Comparative Longevity in Man and the Lower Animals

E. Ray Lankester

A prize was recently offered in the University of Oxford for an Essay on Longevity, and was awarded to the little treatise now published. In the following pages the scope proposed in the subject given for the essay, viz. ‘The Comparative Longevity of different species of lower Animals and the Longevity of Man in different states of Civilization,' has been adhered to. The subject does not admit of very satisfactory treatment from a scientific point of view, and is accordingly one which probably few persons would have selected to write upon, unless under special circumstances, such as were present in this case. At the same time, Longevity is a subject of great popularity, and hence the facts and arguments herein set forth may, it is hoped, interest the public. One result which I hope to attain, by the favor of those who may read my pages, is the accumulation of an increased number of really trustworthy facts bearing on the questions raised. I venture to beg all those who have it in their power to communicate such facts to me, to do so. - Summary by Edwin Ray Lankester