238 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII. 



CHAP. VIII. 



ON THE HYBERNATION, TORPIDITY, AND MIGRATION 

 OP ANIMALS. 



(251.) THE changeful breezes of spring have passed 

 and the glowing warmth of a summer's sun gladdens 

 and revives all nature. Everything looks bright and 

 joyous ; and the animal, as well as the vegetable world, 

 appears endued with fresh life, and strength, and vigour. 

 The note of love, and the voice of happiness, resound 

 through the woods and meadows, uniting in one sweet 

 and general chorus ; while, to the pious heart, this uni- 

 versal concert seems, in the accents of harmony, to 

 speak the praises of that great and gracious Being whose 

 creative hand first formed, and still sustains, the won- 

 drous whole. But the bloom of spring passes away; 

 the genial fire of summer soon exhausts itself; and 

 winter, with its stern and chilling aspect, closes the 

 annual circle of time. What, then, becomes of that 

 variety of animals, many of whose delicate forms are 

 incapable of sustaining the rigour of this inhospitable 

 season ? Are they left, unprotected, to meet their 

 destiny, or struggle with their fate ? No : the same 

 wise and merciful God, who first called them into life, 

 now directs them, by an unerring instinct, in what 

 manner to prepare for the storm and the tempest. And, 

 perhaps, in no part of the wise economy of nature is 

 the Almighty agency more clearly apparent, than in 

 these several preparations for a period which none of 

 them could foresee, and the approaches of which many 

 of them had never before experienced. 



(252.) Animals avoid extreme cold in three different 

 ways, by hybernation, by torpor, and by migration. 



