100 



.ir. Under breast 



6 104 



Semi-torpid. 



On the 14th and 15th of February, the dormice were 

 roused from their apparent death by heat, cautiously ap- 

 plied. The box which contained them had a partition : 

 one compartment was supplied with fresh moss, we 1 ! 

 dried, in which the animals reposed during day, having 

 formed for themselves a somewhat elliptical nest. Two 

 openings, with slides, conducted into their outer court, 

 where the dormice had their food prepared for them, 

 consisting of wheaien bread (sometimes softened with 

 water) and a basin of milk : great attention and care 

 were bestowed on them, and the food daily supplied. 

 The sliding pannels were shut when these compart- 

 ments were cleaned, it being easy to expel them from 

 the one to the other, and thus prevent* their escape. 

 Though their cage was frequently in darkness during 

 the day, the night season was the exclusive period in 

 which they took food : one of them adopted a singular 

 expedient when the liquid was too low in the basin, 

 it dipped in its brushy tail, and in this way transferred 

 the milk to its mouth. When dormice are torpid, 

 they are rolled up like a ball, and may be tossed in- 

 to the air without discovering any motion or change. 

 By keeping them in a proper temperature during the 

 winter, their brumal torpidity may be entirely pre- 

 vented ; but they will not outlive the following year. 

 They are fat and in good condition when they enter 

 into torpidity, but issue from this state miserably 

 lean. Our dormice were extremely timid, yet they 

 may be so tamed as to run about the table and lick 



