, 



UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 181 



Vom it : I would only keep them in their right 

 place ; for I have at last learned that the useful 

 and the intellectual embellish each other ; and 

 that the female character is more or less im- 

 perfect if deficient in either." G. P. 



11th. The dormouse seemed less inclined 

 to sleep during the last return of frost, than 

 before ; and since the weather has become a 

 little more mild and warm, it seems to have laid 

 aside its sleepiness almost entirely. During one 

 or two slight frosts, which lasted for only a day 

 or two, it slept constantly ; and I think I may 

 say, from all our observations, that whenever the 

 thermometer, which my uncle has attached to 

 the cage, falls to 42, the dormouse becomes 

 inactive ; and if it falls any lower, he remains 

 insensible. When the warmth of the room rises 

 to 47 he is affected by the slightest touch, and 

 is sure to waken in the evening and to eat 

 heartily of his store, which I keep supplied with 

 nuts, biscuits, and a little milk and water. When 

 he is too lazy to put his mouth down into the 

 cup, he has a very amusing method of drinking; 

 he dips his tail into the milk, and then draws it 

 through his mouth. Last night he was so much 

 alive that he very expertly repaired his nest, 

 which had been a little deranged. On the whole, 

 as my uncle says, it appears, that as soon as the 



VOL. II. B 



