11 MAY 1907, Page 17

[To TDB EDITOR or TUE Sr ecrsrotil SIR, — Among the most

curious instances of hereditary longevity is that of the Due de Saint-Aignan and his son, both members of the French Academy. The father lost his first wife when he was sixty-three years old. " Apres avoir pleura six moil ea femme et fait mine de se retirer dans un desert, it epousa sans bruit 'sine petite femme de chambre' de la duchesse." The following year he had a son, who lived till 1776. The father was born in the reign of Henri IV. ; the son lived to see Louis XVI. on the throne. The two generations extended over at least a hundred and sixty-six years, if not longer, and witnessed the reigns of five Kings, including the longest reign on record.—I am, Sir, &e., J. D. A.