48 PHILOSOPHY OF ZOOLOGY. 



nearly an inch in thickness, perfectly smooth within, and 

 about twenty inches under ground. The man who first 

 discovered it, not knowing what it was, struck the ball 

 with his spade, by which means it was broken to pieces, or 

 the ball also would have been presented to me *." 



Much stress has been laid upon the position which these 

 animals assume, previous to their becoming torpid, on the 

 supposition that it contributes materially to produce the le- 

 thargy. In describing this position, Mr CAB-LISLE ob- 

 serves, " that this tribe of quadrupeds have the habit of 

 . rolling up their bodies mto the form of a ball during ordi- 

 nary sleep, and they invariably assume the same attitude 

 when in the torpid state : the limbs are all folded into the 

 hollow made by the bending of the body ; the clavicles, or 

 first ribs, and the sternum are pressed against the fore part 

 of the neck, so as to interrupt the flow of blood which sup- 

 plies the head, and to compress the trachea : the abdominal 

 viscera and the hinder limbs are pushed against the dia- 

 phragm, so as to interrupt its motions, and to impede the 

 flow of blood, through the large vessels which penetrate it, 

 and the longitudinal extension of the cavity of the thorax 

 is entirely obstructed. Thus a confined circulation is car- 

 ried on through the heart, probably adapted to the last 

 weak actions of life, and to its gradual recommencement )." 

 But as none of these effects are supposed to be produced by 

 the same position during ordinary sleep, their existence can- 

 not be admitted in the case of torpidity. Professor MAN GILI 

 of Pavia J, with greater simplicity of language, says, that the 

 marmot rolls itself up like a ball, having the nose applied con- 

 trary to the anus, with the teeth and eyes closed. He also in- 



Linn. Trans., vol. iv. p, 156. f Phil Trans. 1795, p. IT, 



Annalcs du Museum, torn, ix, 



