Sept. 1, 1865.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



203 



presents by the Colonna princes. They generally 

 bring forth three or four at a time, and the little ones 

 are, of course, uncovered by fur, being usually quite 

 blind, and remaining so for a few days after birth. 



It ft'equents woods and thick hedges, building an 

 almost round nest, lining it with moss and dead 

 leaves, and placing it in the hollow of a tree, or at 

 the root of some thick shrub ; it will sometimes take 

 possession of a deserted hedge-sparrow's nest, and 

 this it will make its home, and AviU form a maga- 

 zine of nuts, acorns, beans, &c., on which to subsist 

 during the inclement season of winter. When tliis 

 period of the year comes round, it retires to its pre- 

 pared abode, and, having provided itself with a good 

 store of food, will roll itself np into a ball, similar to 

 the marmots, and fall into a torpid or lethargic 

 state till winter is over, and when the more genial 

 sunshine of spring causes the buds and flov/ers to 

 burst forth in all their beauty, the little Dormouse 

 may be sometimes seen sporting about on tlie boughs 

 of the willow or the hazel, eating the catkins which 

 are then in their prime, rejoicing with all nature at 

 the return of v/arm weather. It was formerly believed 

 that this state of hybernation was a continual pro- 

 found sleep, extending from the period of retirement 

 in the fall of one year to the commencement of 

 spring in the next ; but this absurd notion was very 

 properly exposed by Buffon, and the error may be 

 observed by any one who will keep and vfatch a 

 dormouse through the long winter months, from the 

 fact that it will occasionally wake up, and having 

 satiated itself from the food that, if in captivity, 

 must always be kept in readiness in its cage, but 

 vi'hich, if in the wild state, it will have stored up,— it 

 v^rill speedily fall asleep again as fast as ever. 



As regards its instinct, this little animal seems to 

 be warned by nature not to venture out during the 

 day, in search of food, since, by so doing, it would 

 run the risk of falling a prey to hawks, owls, stoats, 

 and such-like creatures, which, as the ancient Homans 

 were, are very fond of them ; and I think from the 

 fact of their large, black, prominent eyes, which are 

 rarely or never seen to blink, being so sensitive to 

 strong lights, together with their wonderfully acute 

 sense of smell, we can rightly conclude that they 

 were originally intended by the Divine Creator to 

 be nocturnal feeders. I do not mean to convey that 

 they never do come out and feed by day, because I 

 know instances where they have been seen (my 

 father himself caught one regaling itself on the 

 catkins of the hazel on a fine day in early spring) ; 

 but that as a general rule you will find that they 

 remain concealed during the day, and at night emerge 

 from their hiding-places to take their food. 



'V'^^ieu I first imprisoned a Dormouse, some years 

 ago, I knew little or nothing about it. I fed it with 

 food which I now perceive to have been v/holly un- 

 fitted for it, and I am convinced that the chief reason 

 of the sickly appearance and subsequent death of 



my little captive, was the style of food, and the 

 limited supply I gave it, for I had then no idea of 

 its enormous digestive powers, or of the variety and 

 quantity it requires. At the present time, however, 

 I have three, lodged in a tolerably spacious cage, 

 fitted with sticks placed in various positions, on 

 which they sport and gambol very prettily indeed. 

 They rarely or never come out during the day, al- 

 though they have no enemy to fear; but as soon as it 

 grows dark, one by one they creep out of their nest 

 and search for the food they most enjoy. T give 

 them a variety every night, of such things as wheat, 

 hav/thoru-berries, familiarly known as " haws," with 

 nuts or almonds. Of the nuts they eat as many as 

 eight or ten during the night, gnawing with their 

 teeth a singularly round hole in them, and entirely 

 cleaning out the contents, I have noticed, too, that 

 if they do not make a symmetrical hole, there is 

 generally something the matter with them. I can- 

 not help thinking this is rather curious. Of the 

 almonds they always eat ten, and sometimes as many 

 as twelve. Besides the above dry food I give them 

 each night a dandelion or a sow-thistle, the milky 

 juice of which they like very much ; you may, in 

 fact, vary their supply greatly ; any vegetable they 

 are fond of, peas and beans especially ; and I am cer- 

 tain, from the experience I have now had, that the 

 more you do vary the supply the happier and the 

 more contented wiU your mice be in their captivity. 

 I sometimes take mine out of their cage, feed them 

 from my hand, and put in their way butter and milk; 

 and the avidity with which they seize on these articles 

 is very amusing. During the last winter session, I 

 had a pair with me in town, and after I had finished 

 tea one evening, I let one out : it discovered a box of 

 sardines, or rather where sardines had been, for 

 luckily I had finished them, as my mouse was into 

 the oil before I could look round, and it lapped up a 

 good deal before I took it out. It made itself, as 

 you may suppose, in a very deplorable state, and not 

 till some time after, from its own exertions coupled 

 with mine, did it become quite clean. I used to put 

 it in my hand and gently rub its fur with a piece of 

 flannel, and after I stopped, it would immediately 

 begin Avorking away with its tongue and feet, and at 

 last it seemed to become so alive to my rubbing, as if it 

 could understand why I was doing it— that it would 

 continue its mode of procedure whilst I was using 

 mine. I would not, however, advise the administra- 

 tion of this oil, as being beneficial to it, since I had 

 to watch and feed my mouse very carefully for some 

 days after the occurrence just stated, and at last I 

 was rewarded by finding that it was getting over the 

 bad effects produced by the oil; it recovered, and now, 

 together with two others, which my brother brought 

 from school last Christmas, it exists in the cage I 

 mentioned above, the finest and fattest of the three. 



A. 11. 



