444 triE HAMSTfeil. 



found the pouch, on each side of its mouth, stuffed 

 with young French beans, arranged lengthwa^'-s, so 

 exactly and close to each other, that it appeared 

 stranire by what mechanism this had been effected ; 

 for the membrane which forms the pouch, though 

 muscular, is extremely thin, and the most expert 

 fingers colild not have packed the beans in more re- 

 gular order. When they were laid loosel on the 

 table, they formed a heap three t\n\es the bulk of 

 the animjal's body *. 



What these creatures lay up, is not for their win- 

 ter's support, (since during that season, they always 

 sleep;) but for their nourishment, previously to the 

 commencement, and after the conclusion, of their 

 state of torpidity. The quantity in the burrows de- 

 pends upon the size and sex of the inhabitants ; the 

 old ones frequently amassing upwards of a hundred- 

 weight of grain, but the young and the females pro- 

 viding a quantity much smaller. 



At the commencement of the cold season, the 

 Hamsters retire in.to their hiding places, the entrances 

 to which they close up. Here they repose for some 

 mionths ; and in this state they arc often dug up by 

 the peasantry, who at this season of the year employ 

 much of their time in hunting for their retreats. 

 These are easily known h.y the small mounts of earth 

 raised at the end of l!ic galleries. Here the men 

 dig till the hoard is vliseovered ; v.'hicli often consists 

 of a bushel, or a bushel and a half, of corn : and 



* I^J:.>•,c^^ AIcpjK). 



