200 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CRAP. 



upon Mount Horeb, and the natives assured me that, when the 

 grapes are rijw, it is necessary to protect them by watchers armed 

 with guns, to scare the bears during night. 



Wild animals which hybernate have a peculiar instinct for 

 selecting hiding-places, which can seldom be discovered ; in these 

 they lie, free from all intrusion. 



The fruits of late autumn fatten the bear to a maximum 

 condition, and when the harvest is over, and the ground is covered 

 with a dense sheet of snow, it retires to some well-known cave, 

 high among the mountains, in such undisturbed seclusion that it is 

 seldom visited by the foot of man. Within a cave, nestled in 

 ferns or withered leaves and grass, the fatted bruin curls itself to 

 sleep throughout the winter months, and the warmth necessary to 

 its existence is supplied by its own fat, which, being rich in carbon, 

 supports vitality at the expense of exhaustion of supply. 



If the fat bear could see itself previous to hybernation in 

 November, and again be introduced to its own photograph upon 

 awakening from its sleep in March, it would be prepared to swear 

 against its own identity. It arises from its winter's nap in 

 wretched condition, having lived entirely upon capital instead of 

 income. Young shoots, and leaves of spring, wild tubers which it 

 scratches from the ground, detected by its keen sense of smell, 

 together with snails, beetles, worms, and everything that creeps 

 upon the earth, now form the bill of fare, until the summer brings 

 forth the welcome fruits that reproduce the condition which the 

 bear had lost through hybernation. 



It is impossible to unravel many of the mysteries of Nature, 

 and the cause which prompts the instinct of a winter's sleep will 

 always remain doubtful. I should myself attribute hybernation to 

 the necessity of repose at a period when food was impossible to 

 procure. The body can exist for an incredible length of time, 

 provided that it is capable of undisturbed rest, which appears in a 

 certain degree to take the place of extraneous nutriment. It is 

 well known that every exertion of the muscles is a loss of power, 

 the force of the body being represented by heat. To lift a weight 

 or to move a limb requires a certain expenditure of heat, which 

 means force ; this loss of heat and power is recuperated by food ; 

 thus in the absence of provisions for the necessary supply, there 

 would be no loss of heat if there is no exertion. Sleep is the 

 resource, as the body is not only at rest, but the brain is also 

 tranquil ; there is accordingly a minimum of exhaustion. Human 

 beings have been known to live without food of any kind (excepting 

 water) for a period of forty days, and have then resumed their 



