ON THE 



HIREHNATION OF CERTAIN ANIMALS 



BY 



EDWARD CORNFORD, M.A., HON. Sfx. 



There may be some misapprehension as to the true 

 meaning of ' the word " Hii^ernation." Its origin, no 

 ciouV)t, leads our thoughts into winterly associations. But 

 as applied to animal life it may have nothing whatever to 

 do with winter nor a cold condition of atmosphere. A 

 'Miibernacle " is generally understood as signifying a 

 winter shelter or covering, and could be applied to the 

 warm retreat of the squirrel, or the hut of the Eskimo ; 

 or any winter quarters, as Carlyle writes in his " Frederic 

 the Great": "From the beginning of April the Russians 

 hibernating in the interior parts of Poland were awake, 

 and getting daily under weigh." The scales which 

 protect the buds of the horse chesnut and of many 

 other trees, shielding them from sleet and frost, are 

 hibernacula. The operculum of the snail is its outer 

 door, and behind it, it hibernates in its dark chamber, 

 during many months. 



Hibernation has been said by some, and by many others 

 thought to be, passing the winter in a secluded place and 

 in a 'torpid state. This definition of the term is some- 

 what inaccurate and misleading, as I think we shall see. 



It may be taken for granted that a supply of oxygen is 

 absolutely necessary for the sustenance of animal life, and 

 that anv animal totally deprived of a supply of this gas 



