218 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



to sleep for the whole winter. He takes no 

 food all that time, but he is not moving, his 

 breathing is very slow, and his heart beats very 

 slowly and feebly, so he is not spending much 

 energy. Life is at a very low ebb, and what 

 waste there is, for there can be no life without 

 some waste, is made good at the expense of the 

 coat of fat he put on in autumn. Not much fresh 

 air gets into his hiding-place, so the carbonic 



FIG. 25. SPINY ANT-EATER (ECHIDNA). 



A primitive egg-laying Mammal. The egg is placed in a 

 skin-pocket, where it develops. The Spiny Ant-eater 

 illustrates winter sleep. 



acid gas given off by his feeble breathing 

 hangs like a poison cloud all round him and 

 helps to keep him in his heavy stupor. An 

 animal in this state has often been compared 

 to a fire which has been well built and then 

 banked up and allowed to become choked with 

 its own ashes. Hardly any heat is given off, but 

 as long as a red glow remains in the centre of 



