TORPIDITY. 55 



^old increasing, it awoke and ate a little, and then .relapsed 

 into torpidity. On the 10th of February the intervals of 

 repose were eighteen or twenty minutes, and then thirteen 

 to fifteen respirations. On the 21st February, the thermo- 

 meter being 48°, the intervals of repose were from twenty- 

 eight to thirty, and the consecutive respirations from five 

 to seven. 



From the observations already made on this important 

 subject, it appears, that respiration is not only diminished, 

 but even in some cases totally suspended. During the se- 

 vere winter of 1795, Spallanzani exposed dormice to a 

 temperature below the freezing point, and enclosed them 

 in vessels filled with carbonic acid and a-zotic gas over mer- 

 cury, three hours and a half, without injuring them, and 

 the sides of the vessels were not marked by any vapour. 

 Hence we may conclude that they did not breathe, nor 

 consume any oxygen gas. 



Mangili placed a marmot under a bell-glass, immersed 

 in lime water, at 9 o'clock in the evening. At nine next 

 morning the water had only risen in the glass three lines. 

 Part of the oxygen was abstracted, and a portion of carbo- 

 nic acid was formed, as a thin pellicle appeared on the sur- 

 face of the lime-water, which effervesced with nitric acid. 

 Si'ALLANZANi placed torpid marmots in -vessels filled with 

 carbonic acid and hydrogen, and Confined them there for 

 four hours, without doing them the least injury, the tem- 

 perature of the atmosphere being several degrees below 

 the freezing point. But he found, that if these animals 

 were awakened by any means, or if the temperature was 

 not low enough to produce complete torpor, they very 

 soon perished in the same noxious gases. A bird and rat, 

 introduced into a reservoir containing carbonic acid gas, 

 did not live a minute ; whereas a torpid marmot remained 

 in it an hour, without betraying the least desire to move. 



