18 



know from observation, that a temperature one or two 

 degrees above the freezing point, makes them inani- 

 mate J hence it is probable that the heat given out, du- 

 ring the time that the earth is freezing above them, 

 will be amply sufficient to reanimate and enable them 

 to descend. 



SECTION II. 



TO obtain the object proposed, it may not be 

 improper, to endeavour to ascertain whether these 

 animals are furnished with respiratory organs. The 

 following are the repeated experiments that I have 

 made on this subject. 



found the animals about two inches below the frost, in a state of 

 torpor. The thermometer applied to the surface of the eartli stood 

 at 31 degrees. By introducing it into the gi-ound, where the animals 

 Ue in a torpid state, it rose to 33 degi-ees. By a minute attention to 

 the animals, so as to see when they exhibited the fii'St signs of life, 

 at which time I immediately introduced the thermometer, and it 

 rose to 34 and a half degrees ; as soon as they began to move, they 

 also began to descend into tlie eartli. 



