NOTE -BOOK OF A NATURALIST. ^o7 



had to try — return we to the extraordinary vitality ma- 

 nifested by the Testudinata under the most adverse 

 circumstances. 



A small tortoise was received in this country in the 

 winter ; in a state of hybernation, doubtless. The con- 

 dition of the little animal never occurred to the reci- 

 pient. The head and limbs were tucked into the shell, 

 and he put it into the drawer with a collection of snuff- 

 boxes, intending to have it mounted as a companion to 

 the rest. The drawer was not opened for many months, 

 and when it was, it smelt, as the proprietor thought, 

 rather musty. He therefore pulled it out on a fine, 

 warm, moist, autumnal day, exposed it to the open air 

 on the outside of a window, and went where his business 

 called him. When he returned, he thought he would 

 take a look at his drawer, and as soon as he cast a glance 

 upon it, he saw, as he thought, one of his snuff-boxes 

 walking about.. He rubbed his eyes, and looked again. 

 His senses had not deceived him, for there was the tor- 

 toise roused from his long, long sleep, by the genial at- 

 mosphere ; and, though it was not exactly in the state 

 to make soup for a fairy alderman, it soon gained strength 

 under kind treatment, and lived long. 



The alleged length of time during Avhich suspended 

 animation may be continued, with the power of again 

 resuming the functions of life, would be considered as fit 

 only for fable were it not confirmed beyond all doubt. 

 Hear honest and true Benjamin Franklin, who thus relates 

 a somewhat extraordinary anecdote of some flies, which 

 had undergone a similar fate to that of ' poor Clarence,' 

 but mth a much more happy result to some of the 

 party :— 



They had been drowned in Madeiva wine, apparently about the 

 time when it was bottled in Virginia, to be sent hither (to London). 

 At the opening of one of the bottles at the house of a friend where 

 1 then was, three drowned flies fell into the first glass which was 

 filled. Having heard it remarked that drowned flies were capable 



