120 WONDERS OF ORGANIC LIFE. 



shall we say of the hybernation of the common 

 brown bear of northern Europe ? In this case 

 is torpidity continuous or interrupted, or is 

 the hybernation sleepless ? We take the fol- 

 lowing passages from our own writing : — " The 

 general habits of the bear are well known ; 

 unsocial and solitary, these animals frequent 

 the gloomiest recesses among the mountains, 

 glens, and caverns, and the depths of forests ; 

 there they dig or enlarge a cave in which to 

 dwell, or usurp the hollow of some huge de- 

 cayed tree, or form a sort of rude den under 

 the covert of a maze of intertwined branches, 

 lining their habitation with moss. Here they 

 pass the winter in a state bordering on torpidity; 

 and it is during this retirement, in January, that 

 the female brings forth her young. . . . When 

 the bear retires to winter quarters, on the 

 approach of the cold season, it is very fat ; but 

 on coming forth in the spring it is generally 

 observed to be very lean, the fat having been 

 absorbed for the nutriment of the system during 

 the animal's torpidity. But a query here sug- 

 gests itself — Is the female who produces her 

 young, and has to attend to them, torpid ? And 

 can she suckle them without receiving any 

 aliment herself? This is very improbable, 

 and tends to prove that the seclusion of the 

 animal is neither so absolute, nor its seclusion 

 so complete as is generally asserted. That 

 bears support themselves in their winter retire- 

 ment by sucking their paws is a vulgar error." 

 Error, however, as this is, it shows the pre- 



