TORPIDITY. 59 



a collapsed state, and the secretions so small, that a supply 

 of nourishment from the stomach is not requisite. Mr 

 Jenner found a hedgehog, when the heat of the stomach 

 was at 30°, to have no desire for food, nor power of digest- 

 ing it. But when the temperature was increased to 93°, 

 by inflammation in the abdomen, the animal seized a toad 

 which was in the room, and, upon being offered some 

 bread and milk, immediately began to eat. The heat ex- 

 cited the action of the various functions of the animal, and 

 the parts unable to carry on these actions, without nourish- 

 ment, urged the stomach to digest. 



While many torpid quadrupeds retire to holes in the 

 earth unprovided with food, and in all probability need no 

 sustenance during their lethargic state, there are others, as 

 we have already mentioned, which provide a small stock of 

 provisions. These, we are inclined to believe, eat a little 

 during those temporary fits of reviviscence to which they 

 are subject. This is in part confirmed by the experi- 

 ments of Mangili, both on the common and fat dormouse. 

 Whenever these awoke from their torpid slumbers, they 

 always ate a little. Indeed, he is of opinion, that fasting 

 long, produces a reviviscence, and that, upon the cravings 

 of appetite being satisfied, they again become torpid. 



6. Diminished Weiglit. — All the experiments hitherto 

 made on this subject, indicate a loss of weight sustained by 

 these animals, from the time they enter their torpid state, 

 until the period of their reviviscence. Mangili procured 

 two marmots from the Alps, on the 1st of December 1813. 

 The largest weighed ^5 Milanese ounces, the smallest only 

 22/5ths ounces. On the 3d of January, the largest had 

 lost Ifths of an ounce, and the smallest ^^ths and a half. 

 On the fifth of February, the largest was now only 22||th 

 ounces, the smallest 21 ounces. He adds, that they lose 



