99 



when alive was such that it bore the weight of a man. 

 In 1826 it weighed 91bs." 



In reference to the tortoise we find similar attesta- 

 tions in " The Natural History of Selborne :" "it dis- 

 covers as much solicitude about rain as a lady dressed 

 in all her best attire, shuffling away on the first sprink- 

 lings, and running its head up into a corner : it is an 

 excellent weather-glass ; for as sure as it walks elate and 

 on tip-toe, feeding with great earnestness in a morn- 

 ing, so sure will it rain before night." Our author thus 

 verifies what we ascertained from personal observation 

 and experiment: " When it first appears in spring it 

 discovers very little inclination towards food, but in 

 the height of summer grows voracious, and then, as the 

 summer declines its appetite declines, so that for the 

 last six weeks in autumn it hardly eats at all. Milky 

 plants, such as lettuces, dandelions, sow-thistles, are its 

 favourite dish." 



As a proper sequel, we may add a few remarks on 

 the dormouse. 



In the beginning of 1824, we received two dormice 

 from a friend in Derbyshire, and commenced a series 

 of experiments on the temperature developed by the 

 skin. One of these was accidentally lost, having 

 escaped from confinement ; and we were shortly after- 

 wards necessitated, from various avocations, to resign 

 the prosecution of our experiments with the other. 

 The following is a note of the temperature observed 

 under different circumstances : 



Slst January, 1824, at 25 minutes past 7 P.M., air of the 

 room, 48 Fahrenheit ; temperature of the dormice under the 

 breast, 103 F. We soon after lost one of the prisoners. On the 

 14th February, at half-past 8 P.M., air, 51 F. ; temperature under 

 the breast, 62. 5. The animal semi-torpid. 



F 2 



