A 



JOURNAL 



OF 



NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, 



AND 



THE ARTS. 



MARCH, 1908. 



ARTICLE I. 



Remarks on Torpidity in Animals, in two Letters from John 

 Gough, Esq. 



SIR, Middleshaw, 16 Jan. 1808. 



OU have given, in your XVIIIth volume, page 254, Mr. du Pont's 

 an excellent memoir by Mr. du Pont de Nemours, on a kind ^ moir valua " 

 of death, that may be presumed to be only apparent. This 

 ingenious philosopher suggests several practical observations 

 which merit the attention both of the benevolent and the 

 curious, because they promise to promote the interests of 

 humanity as well as of science. This writer, however, 

 adopts one opinion, which perhaps is supported by the au- 

 thority of antiquity, rather than facts and the known habits 

 of animals. 



Mr. du Pont agrees in opinion, perhaps with the majority The prevai i} n „ 

 of naturalists, respecting the nature of torpidity ; for he re- explanation of 

 fers it, partly to the benumbing effects of the cold which %f*** 8Ul " 

 prevails in winter; and partly to a high degree of corpu- 

 lence, which is generally contracted in autumn, from an un- 

 restrained indulgence in the abundance and delicacies of that 

 season. He moreover supposes, that animals do not submit 

 to this long suspension of the vital functions in obedience to 



Vol, XIX— March, 1809. M the 



