88 



and its temperature 48.5 F. ; and the air being 26, 

 the temperature of the animal was 30 F. Pallas, in 

 the case of a torpid hedgehog, found the skin under 

 the belly 39.5, and Spallanzani limits the decrease of 

 temperature during torpidity to 36 F. The tempera- 

 ture of our dormice was 102 to 104 F. ; Dr. Reeve 

 found it 101. The animal in a semi-torpid state, in 

 our experiments, was at one time 62.5, and at an- 

 other 69 F. Dr. Reeve found the skin of the dor- 

 mouse, when rolled up and torpid in winter, 43, 39, 

 and even 35, on the exterior surface, but in the 

 stomach 67 and 73 an approximation to our re- 

 sults : marmots have a temperature amounting to 101 

 and 102, and this sinks in the torpid state even as 

 low as 43. The arctomys marmota, the marmot of 

 the Alps, is that best known. Three new species, 

 however, from the arctic regions, are described in 

 the Linnean Transactions. * The arctomys hoodii, is a 

 beautiful little animal, and received its specific name 

 after that of Lieut. Hood, one of the party under the 

 command of Capt. Franklin, in the overland expedi- 

 tion. The marmots of North America feed on vege- 

 tables, fruits, and roots ; live under ground, and in the 

 cavities of trees ; and, like the alpine marmot, are said 

 to be torpid during winter. For a description of the 

 alpine marmot, we must refer to our little work on 

 Switzerland f, p. 25, c. It would appear that, though 

 the exterior surface of the animal be of a similar tem- 

 perature with the ambient medium, the internal tem- 

 perature is higher. Spallanzani found the wood-mouse 

 (which in Italy becomes torpid in November) in a 

 torpid state, when the air in its cage was 43, and the 



* Vol. xiii. Lond. 1822. 4to. p. 579, &c. 



f " A Glance at some of the Beauties and Sublimities of 

 Switzerland." London. 1829. 



