SI 



dition, though, at its close, it has lost somewhat of its 

 obesity. It is certain that the alpine hunters of 

 Switzerland find the marmots fat in their holes ; and 

 it is also known that, some time after they leave them, 

 they are often seen emaciated. Spallanzani is of 

 opinion that dormice lose weight by torpidity, and Mr. 

 Cornish estimates this at from five to seven grains 

 during the torpidity of a fortnight. We may there- 

 fore infer safely, that digestion has ceased entirely, 

 but that there still may be a slow expenditure or 

 waste, perhaps cuticular, in the shape of insensible 

 perspiration. 



V. Animals in a torpid state seem insensible to ex- 

 ternal agencies : the dormouse may be tossed up as a 

 ball, or thrown to a distance, without any change of 

 state. Volta and Spallanzani could not rouse the 

 marmot from its torpidity by the electric spark, and 

 it was only temporarily disturbed by the shock from a 

 Leyden jar, Wounds have been inflicted, and their 

 limbs broken, yet torpidity remained unhinged, as in 

 bats and other animals. External stimuli, therefore, 

 do not affect the torpidity of animals : heat and air, 

 conjoined no doubt with electricity, are the only 

 agencies which rouse them from this death-like 

 lethargy. 



" The tribe of quadrupeds," says Dr. Reeve, " have 

 the habit of rolling themselves into the form of a ball 

 during ordinary sleep ; and they invariably assume the 

 same attitude when in the torpid state, so as to ex- 

 pose the least possible surface to the action of cold : 

 the limbs are all folded into the hollow made by the 

 bending of the body : the clavicles and the sternum 

 are pressed against the fore part of the neck, so as to 

 interrupt the flow of blood which supplies the head, 

 and to compress the trachea ; the abdominal viscera 



