52 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



The safe and cosv hollow in a gnarled oak, or an old 

 pollard willow, the cleft or cavern in the cliff, the shelter 

 of the thatch on some country cottage, the heap of leaves 

 in the forest, the mound of the cast-off dress of the 

 larches and firs, provide so many hibernacula for "our 

 humble relations." Sometimes these hibernates congregate 

 in clusters, and it is not beyond the range of possibility 

 that the mass of wintering snails with which gardeners are 

 familiar, derive some amount of heat from their associate- 

 ship. Be this as it may, the true hiljernating animal, if 

 roused from a state of rest and shelter to a state of 

 activity, is then exjjosed to severe cold, it j)asses into a 

 state of fatal torpor. 



If we ask, what are the hibernating animals? I would say 

 it is a question which needs further investigations than 

 (so far as 1 know) it has received up to the present time. 

 All animals, as I have already said, sleej) periodicalK- 

 during the night or day. Some sleep several days together, 

 especially after food, and in the colder or any other j)art of 

 the year. During true hibernation, res])iration and circu- 

 lation are reduced to the minimum, consistent with the 

 presence of life. 



Hibernation may result in changes in some instances 

 which, unless we had the evidence of our senses, would 

 be absolutely incredible ; but in other cases the condition 

 of the animal hibernating is scarcely altered. I take two 

 familiar instances. The first that of a butterfly or moth. 

 In the pupa stage they maintain the continuity of life in 

 a sufficient, though much changed and greatly modified 

 condition. The environment is absolutely altered. The 

 access to food from without is shut off, a great change is 

 undergone in the greater or less darkness of the coflin, 

 or place of temporary confinement, a change which may 

 be prolonged for years, or which may take place within a 

 very short period. 



