WINTER SLEEP OF ANIMALS. 77 



LESSON IX. 



SLEEP, AND THE WINTER SLEEP OF ANIMALS. 



OTHER animals have, like man, times of action 

 and of repose ; and, when fatigued, seek a safe 

 and convenient resting place. Some are exceed- 

 ingly watchful during sleep, and appear scarcely 

 to shut their eyes, as the hare and the chamois. 

 Cats, owls, and several beasts of prey, pass the 

 day partly in sleep, and seek their food during 

 the night. 



The attention bestowed by Almighty God 

 upon the works of his hand, is very forcibly 

 shown by the torpid state in which many of these 

 pass certain portions of the year. Animals which 

 have this peculiarity are called hybernating ; 

 and, during the winter months in temperate 

 countries, and the dry seasons in hot ones, they 

 fall into a deep sleep, and remain motionless for 

 weeks and sometimes for months. They are, by 

 this singular means, preserved from being de- 

 stroyed by cold, and from perishing for want 

 of food, in seasons when it would have been im- 

 possible for them to have procured it. 



Some of these hybernating animals towards 

 the end of autumn prepare for themselves, with 

 great labour and skill, a winter-house, and 

 store it with provisions. The hamster, a very 

 common animal in Switzerland and Germany, 

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