PROCEEDINGS OE THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 6l 



thev became active, one however died, and one of the others 

 lived onlv about six weeks. In this case you will note 

 that thev without doubt had, during their seclusion, access 

 to air. I must, however, remark that it was and perhaps 

 still is a moot question whether Lepidosiren is a fish or a 

 reptile. It seems to depend on the question whether it 

 l^ossesses more of the piscine or reptilian characters. I 

 myself was inclined to place it amongst the reptiles, but on 

 consulting various authorities I have come to the conclu- 

 sion that it must be classed as a fish, belonging to the 

 order "Di[)noi," and a hibernating fish. 



A number of other observations have been made, but I 

 will allude to one instance only. The salt water Terrapin, 

 " Malachlemys" is found in the salt marshes in North and 

 South America. During the summer it is always on the 

 prowl ; but when the cold weather comes it excavates a 

 hole in the muddy banks of the marsh, and there lies 

 buried until the spring. But this is an exceptional case, 

 as a rule, and only those animals which are found in very 

 shallow waters, and under special circumstance, hibernate. 



Allow me now briefly to sum up the leading features 

 connected with my subject. 



One of the most important characteristic of organisms 

 and that on which the maintenance of life depends, is their 

 metabolic power : (metabolism being the act or process by 

 which on the one hand the dead food is built up into living 

 matter, and by which on the other hand the living matter is 

 l)roken down into simpler products within a cell or 

 organism). Metabolic power is therefore the power 

 which animals possess of continually using up and 

 renewing the matter of which the body is composed. 

 Every phenomenon of growth pre supposes the reception 

 of, and the change of, material constituents; all movements, 

 secretions and manifestations of life depend on the exchange 

 of matter; or in other words the breaking down and building 

 up of chemical compounds. On this alternating destruction 



