AN OLD NATURALIST CONRAD GESNER. 



59 



Fig. 12. 



The Uses of these Animals. They are caught in the fol- 

 lowing way, during their winter sleep when they are nice and fat, 

 by hunters, who sell their meat for money : In the summer the 

 people who live at the foot of the Alps mark the holes with long 

 sticks which will show above 

 the snow in the winter. 

 About Christmas they walk 

 over the snow to these marks 

 on broad wooden runners, 

 carrying picks and shovels, 

 with which they clear away 

 the snow, and digging into 

 the nests, catch them asleep 

 without trouble, although 

 one must not talk loudly or 

 make much noise while catch- 

 ing them, for if awakened 

 they burrow rapidly into the 

 soil, throwing the earth be- 

 tween themselves and the 

 hunter and making it hard 



for him to follow them. They are also caught in snares laid 

 before their holes, and in many other ways. They are always 

 found in odd numbers, as seven, nine, eleven, or even more. 



The hunters who dig them up in winter notice the length of 

 the cone of dirt with which the animal has plugged up the open- 

 ing of its burrow, for if this is short the winter will be mild, but 

 very cold and severe if it is several feet long. 



The Flesh of the Animal and how to prepare it. 

 They are fattest about the Christmas days, and are killed while 

 asleep by cutting the throat with a knife, as calves or swine are 

 slaughtered. They usually die without awakening. The blood is 

 caught, and the animal is scalded with hot water, like a hog, to 

 remove the hair, and is cleaned and made to appear white. The 

 intestines are then taken out, and the body, filled with the blood, 

 is roasted on a spit or is boiled with black pepper. The flesh is 

 sometimes salted and smoked, and is then boiled with black pep- 

 per, turnips, or a pumpkin. 



The salted flesh is better than the fresh, as the salt dries it and 

 takes away its penetrating odor. It is always indigestible and 

 heating, but it is good for women in their confinement and also 

 for their diseases. 



Its Use in Medicine. The stomach of the marmot is used as 

 a remedy for stomach ache, and the fat for sclerosis of the arteries, 

 which are rubbed with it. 



