832 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



possess as much intelligence as the gray or red or some other spe- 

 cies." From the entire account of the flying squirrel given by 

 Prof. Perkins, I should suppose that the intelligence of this species 

 and that of the ground squirrel are about on a par the explana- 

 tion of which will be considered later. 



A question of much interest to the naturalist and psycholo- 

 gist, it seems to me, is the following, viz., to what extent the intel- 

 ligence of animals that hibernate has been modified by this pro- 

 cess, and in what directions. With regard to hibernation, so far 

 as the squirrels are concerned, there seems to be great dearth of 

 accurate observations; in fact, the same remark applies to the 

 whole subject of hibernation, one of the most interesting in the 

 whole realm of physiology. A number of observations are to be 

 found scattered through the literature, but they are fatally lack- 

 ing, in most cases, in precision of observation and accurate rec- 

 ord of dates. From a short but valuable paper on " The Ameri- 

 can Chipmunk," in " The Popular Science Monthly " (vol. vii), by 

 Dr. C. Abbott, we are led to believe that the ground squirrel spends 

 some time in his burrow before hibernation begins, and that the 

 food laid up is consumed in part before the winter torpor sets in, 

 and more especially in the spring before a fresh supply is obtained 

 in the usual way. Concerning the winter habits of other species, 

 I have been able to learn nothing from any quarter that definitely 

 settles the question as to whether they hibernate or not. Audu- 

 bon and Bachmann (loc. cit.) state that as much as one bushel and 

 a half of nuts has been found in a single hollow tree occupied by 

 a chickaree or red squirrel. They also state that this species may 

 have several hoards. From different remarks dropped by these 

 writers, from what I have myself observed, and from the state- 

 ments of Dr. R. Bell, I am inclined to the belief that the red 

 squirrel and some other species do not regularly hibernate the 

 whole winter through. But whether they hibernate at all, in the 

 true sense of that term ; whether they have short periods of hiber- 

 nation, followed by intervals of consciousness, during which they 

 feed ; whether they remain in a condition of partial torpor, with 

 slowing of all the vital processes, and yet not in absolute insensi- 

 bility and with cessation of respiration, etc. all these questions 

 seem to be as yet wholly undecided. 



It has long been known that many cold-blooded animals hiber- 

 nate and, under altered conditions, sestivate ; it is further believed 

 that among warm-blooded animals, besides bats, many rodents 

 and some allied animals hibernate. But, when the matter is 

 looked into carefully, it is found that the term " hibernation " 

 has been used in a loose and very plastic sense by different authors. 

 It is highly desirable, therefore, that writers should state exactly 

 to what extent the animal they describe as " torpid," " hibernat- 



