886 



HYBERNATION. 



tain u sup 



ply of 

 Clothing. 



Animals connected with the ordinary concerns of life. Hence 

 which ob- we possess few well established facts, and even those 

 which have been ascertained, are still widely scattered 

 in various publications ; as naturalists in general are 

 more anxious to establish the nomenclature of animals, 

 than to investigate their habits and instincts. 



Naturalists are in the practice of restricting the term 

 In/bcrnation, to that condition of animals during the 

 winter season more familiarly expressed by the term 

 torpidity. We are not aware of any reason to induce 

 us thus to limit the original meaning of the word ; 

 and therefore in this article, we use it as expressing 

 the various conditions in which animals are found 

 during the winter season, and the circumstances by 

 which these conditions are distinguished. 



The subject naturally dividesitself into four branches, 

 corresponding with the different states of hybernation 

 which animals exhibit. The first includes those ani- 

 mals which obtain a change of dress ; the second, those 

 which provide forthemselves a store of food; the third, 

 those which migrate; and the fourth, those that become 

 torpid. 



CHAP. I. 



HYBERNATINO ANIMALS WHICH OBTAIN A SUPPLY OF 

 CLOTHING. 



" Ante omnia (says Pliny when comparing the con- 

 dition of man with that of the inferior animals ) unum 

 animantium cunctorum alienis velat opibus : cateris va- 

 ria tegumenta tribuit, testas, cortices, coria, spinas, vil- 

 los, setas, pilos, plumam, pennas, squamas, vellera. 

 Truncos etiam arboresque cortice, interdum gemino, a 

 frigoribus et calore tuata est. Hominem tantum nu- 

 dum, et in nuda humo, natali die abjicit ad vagitus 

 statim et ploratum, nullumque tot animalium aliud ad 

 lacrymas, et has protinus vitae principio." But this con- 

 dition of man is most agreeable to his nature, as he can 

 provide for himself a suitable covering, and accommo- 

 date his dress to all climates, seasons, and occupations. 



As the inferior animals do not possess such powers of 

 contrivance, we find that nature has furnished them with 

 clothing suited to their situations and habits. Hence 

 those animals, whose appointed residence is in the warm 

 regions of the earth, are in possession of the thinnest co- 

 verings; while those which are destined to dwell in the 

 arctic regions, are enveloped in fur. Thus in the cli- 

 mate of Spain and Syria, the dog and the sheep have 

 fine tufty and silky hair ; while in the Siberian dog and 

 Iceland ram, the hair is long and rigid. In still warm- 

 er regions than those which we have mentioned, the fur 

 becomes so very thin, that the animals may be consi- 

 dered as naked. This is strikingly illustrated in the 

 dogs of Guinea, and in the African and Indian sheep. 



The clothing of animals living in cold countries, is 

 essentially different from that of the animals of warm 

 regions in another respect. If we examine the fur of 

 the swine of warm countries, it consists entirely of 

 bristles or hair of the same form and consistency ; but 

 those which live in colder districts possess not only 

 common bristles or strong hair, but a fine frizzled wool 

 next the skin, over which the long hairs project. This 

 statement may easily be verified, by a comparison of the 

 fur of the swine of the south of England with that which 

 is found on those of the Scottish Highland breed. The 

 same observation may be made on the sheep of warm and 

 cold countries. The fleece of those of England consists 

 entirely of wool ; while those of Zetland, Iceland, and 



other northern regions, besides the wool contains a num- 

 ber of long hairs, which at first sight give to the fleece 

 while on the back of the animal, the appearance of great 

 coarseness. The living races of rhinoceros and elephant 

 of southern regions, have scarcely any fur on their bo- 

 dies ; while those which have formerly resided in the 

 middle and northern parts of Europe, now only found 

 in a fossil state, have been covered with long hair, and 

 a thick coating of short frizzled wool. 



Climate in this case exercises a powerful influence 

 over the secretions of these animals, in the increase or 

 diminution of their clothing. Were such changes not 

 to take place, the inhabitants of cold countries would 

 perish by the inclemency of the weather, while those 

 of warmer regions would be exhausted by a profuse per- 

 spiration. 



The effects which climate is here represented as pro- 

 ducing on the clothing of animals, are also observable 

 as the annual result of the season of the year in all the 

 temperate and cold regions of the earth. There is al- 

 ways an increase in the quantity of covering during 

 the winter season, and not unfrequently a change in 

 its colour. Let us now attend to each of these changes. 



INCREASE IN THE QUANTITY OF CLOTHING. If we 

 attend to the condition of the clothing of our domestic 

 animals previous to winter, we shall witness the chan- 

 ges which take place. The fur is not merely renewed, 

 but it is increased in quantity and length. This is very 

 plainly exhibited in those quadrupeds which are kept 

 out of doors, and exposed to the vicissitudes of the wea- 

 ther. But even with those animals kept in houses du- 

 ring the winter, the length and thickness of the fur va- 

 ry according to the warmth of their habitations ; and 

 as the temperature of these habitations depends in part 

 on the elevation, so we find the cattle living on farms near 

 the level of the sea, covered with a shorter and thinner 

 fur than those which inhabit districts of a higher level. 

 Hence if we look at the horses, for example, of the farm- 

 ers in a market day in winter, we might determine the 

 relative temperature of their respective farms, from the 

 relative quantity of clothing provided by nature for the 

 animals which live on them. 



This winter covering, if continued during the sum* 

 mer, would prove inconveniently warm. It is, there- 

 fore, thrown off by degrees as the summer advances; so 

 that the animals which were shaggy during the cold 

 months become sleek in the hot season. 



This process of casting the hair takes place at diffe- 

 rent seasons, according to the constitution of the animal 

 with respect to heat. The mole has, in general, finished 

 this operation before the end of May. The fleece of the 

 sheep, when suffered to fall, is seldom cast before the 

 end of June. In the northern islands of Scotland, where 

 the shears are never used, the inhabitants watch the 

 time when the fleece is ready to fall, and pull it off with 

 their fingers. The long hairs, which likewise form a 

 part of the covering, remain for several weeks, as they 

 are not ripe for casting at the same time with the fine 

 wool. This operation of pulling off the wool, provin- 

 cially called rooing, is represented by some writers, more 

 humane than well-informed, as a painful process to the 

 animal. That it is not even disagreeable, is evident from 

 the quiet manner in which the sheep lie during the pull- 

 ing, and from the ease with which the fleece separates 

 from the skin. 



We are in general inattentive with respect to the an- 

 nual changes in the clothing of our domestic animals ; 

 but when in search of those beasts which yield us our 

 most vsduablefitrs, we are compelled to watch these 



Animals 

 which ob- 

 tain a sup- 

 ply of 



Clothing. 



Increase in 

 the quan- 

 tity of 

 clothing. 



In quadm. 

 peds. 



Sheep. 



