566 William Reijf 



the insect is in a condition in which no metaboHsm can take place, 

 for the circulation of the blood has then become impossible. An 

 insect without metabolism cannot be regarded as being still alive, 

 but nevertheless it is not dead, since it has not reached the point 

 of permanent cold rigor. It is, therefore, in a transitional con- 

 dition, a lifeless or anabiotic stage. To aid in the understanding 

 of the conception of anabiosis Bachmetjew's explanation may be 

 repeated in his own words: ''The anabiotic condition is not one of 

 lethargy, for in lethargy metabolism still takes place, although 

 very slowly, till the insect finally dies of inanition. The condition 

 under discussion can be better compared with that of a clock in 

 which the pendulum has been intentionally stopped. Of course, 

 the clock has not been injured, but it does not go. On pushing 

 the pendulum the clock shows that it is still intact; and just as 

 the clock with a motionless pendulum can remain uninjured for 

 an indefinitely long period of time, so, presumably, an insect could 

 remain for an indefinitely long time in. the anabiotic condition 

 without dying." (Vol. ii, p. 685.) 



From some pupae of Actias selene imported in November, 1908, 

 for hybridization experiments during the coming summer, there 

 hatched as early as the twentieth of November a female moth, 

 which I left out-of-doors in a wire cage till November 22d inclusive. 

 At this time the temperature for several days had been unusually 

 high, and was undoubtedly responsible for the premature hatching 

 of the insect. From the twenty-third of November on I subjected 

 the moth to a continuously low temperature, varying from —3° C. 

 to —6° C. Daily observation showed that the moth remained 

 unchanged and motionless, with spread wings, on one of the walls 

 of the wire cage, and that it responded to no external stimuli. It 

 should be noted, however, that the stimuli were never sufficiently 

 severe to injure the specmien. In order to ascertain whether it 

 was still alive, I carried it over on the third of January, 1909, to 

 the outside temperature, which was on that day about +5° C. 

 Although the moth retained the same attitude as before, it never- 

 theless moved its antennae and legs when it was stimulated, but 

 the slight rise in temperature was not sufficient to cause it to move 

 spontaneously, nor did January 4, with an average temperature 



