HIBERNA TIOiV. 1 6 5 



of this, and of their approaching fire to a suicidal 

 extent. 



Equally strange is the degree of cold to which they can 

 sometimes submit, and yet recover. But we must conclude 

 that this is Avhen they are overcome gradually, not suddenly^ 

 by it, and not exposed to the outer air so that the tissues 

 would be injured. Dr. Carpenter mentions reptiles having 

 been kept three years in an ice-house, and recovering on 

 being gradually restored to warmth. Too recklessly acting 

 upon this, I deposited my pet lizards in a small, shallow 

 box containing moss, sand, and soft rubbish, and left them 

 outside a window to hibernate. They buried themselves as 

 deeply as they could go, — only a few inches, alas ! — but a 

 sudden and severe frost set in, and the poor little victims 

 were frozen stiff at the bottom of their prison-house. It was 

 in a bleak north-eastern aspect, and the sharp frost easily 

 striking through the wood, that slight box must have proved 

 a very different sort of nest to what they would have chosen 

 on their native heath, — far down, and well protected from 

 the icy winds. In a strong, deep box, or an earthenware jar, 

 Avith sufficient earth and rubbish in it, they might have 

 survived. 



In the Museum of Paris in 1875-76, sixteen rattlesnakes 



» 



are said to have died of cold. The heating apparatus at 

 the Jardin des Plantes is less effective than our own in 

 London, where very few of the snakes have been known 

 to suffer from lowered temperature. 



Snakes are abundantly supplied with oily fat ; thick layers 

 of it line their intestines in autumn, and this is gradually 

 absorbed during their torpor. They therefore lose weight, 



