HIBERNATION AND ALLIED STATES IN ANIMALS 83 



struggle for existence which has apparently been so 

 great a factor in all kinds of development. 



On account of the destructive power of its teeth it 

 became necessary to have a cage constructed of strong 

 wire, with a suitable movable bottom, essential for 

 cleanliness. 



My specimen would eat fruits, such roots as turnips 

 and carrots, bread, biscuits, etc. But he became 

 very fond of porridge with a little milk, and when 

 he was disposing of this, his smacking could be 

 heard all over the house. It seemed to agree with him 

 perfectly. 



The object of my investigations being to ascertain 

 not only the nature of the winter sleep, but the char- 

 acter of its variations under a changing environment, 

 especially as regards temperature and meteorological 

 conditions generally, I kept the animal in different 

 rooms of the houses in which I lived successively 

 during the creature's lifetime, and also in different 

 parts of an outhouse in which my dogs, fowls, etc., 

 lived. 



It would take up too much space and prove rather 

 wearisome to attempt to reproduce here the records 

 which I have kept in detail. It will be both more 

 practicable and more profitable to give the general 

 results of studies on this one specimen for the four 

 years during which he lived, and then refer to the un- 

 expected result of the study of another specimen during 

 the past winter. 



I think the following life-periods were recognisable 

 in the specimen I had under observation : 



(1) A period characterised by either drowsiness or 

 sleep or profound torpor, lasting from about November 

 to April. 



(2) A period of perfect wakefulness immediately 

 following, during which the animal was emaciated, in 



