24-2 HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. VIII. 



Hearne, the traveller, when in Arctic America, met 

 with frogs in such a completely frozen state, that, al- 

 though their legs were hroken, the injury did not ap- 

 pear to cause the slightest sensation to the animal. He, 

 however, adds, that, hy wrapping them up in skins, 

 and exposing them to a slow fire, they have been re- 

 stored to activity. 



(259.) The generality of INSECTS, during winter, pass 

 into a state of temporary torpor. " The sites chosen 

 for their hybernacula," as Messrs. Kirhy and Spence 

 well observe, " are very various; some merely insinu- 

 ate themselves under any large stone ; others prefer a 

 collection of dead leaves, or the moss on the sheltered 

 side of an old wall or bank ; others seek a retreat in 

 the moss itself, or bury themselves deep in the rotten 

 trunk ; while numbers penetrate into the earth to the 

 depth of several inches; . . . Those insects which bear 

 considerable cold without injury, are less careful about 

 their winter retreats; while the more tender species 

 either enter the earth beyond the reach of frost, or 

 prepare for themselves artificial cavities in various sub- 

 stances, such as moss and rotten wood, which conduct 

 heat with difficulty, and defend them from an inju- 

 riously low temperature." * The same authors also 

 state, that the first cold weather which occurs after in- 

 sects have entered their winter quarters, produces pre- 

 cisely the same effect upon them as upon many species 

 of the larger animals. " At first, a partial benumbment 

 takes place ; but the insect, if touched, is still capable 

 of moving its organs. But, as the cold increases, all 

 the animal functions cease ; the insect breathes no 

 longer, and has no need of a supply of air ; its nu- 

 tritive secretions cease, and no more food is required ; 

 the muscles lose their irritability, and it has all the 

 external symptoms of death. In this state it continues 

 during the existence of great cold ; but the degree of 

 its torpidity varies with the temperature of the atmo- 

 sphere. The recurrence of a mild day, such as we 



* Int. to Ent. vol. ii. p. 440. 



