Gl. 



" ST.EEr AND DKKAMR." 



exceeds it. ■During complete rest, on tlie otlier liand, rejiair 

 greatly cxcoods the waste. But I think it has other uses. 

 Some animals, for instance, such as the dormouse, pass the 

 coldest part of the year in a state of hibernation, in which 

 condition their activities are reduced to the very lowest ehb 

 consistent with life. Their breathing is shallow, the 

 heart-beats are feeble and slow, and their brains and 

 muscles are at almost absolute I'est. Only now and tlien, 

 when warmed by an unusually mild day, does the circulation 

 quicken, and across the sleepy brain comes a dim vision of 

 the nuts that the creature has laid by, and an impulse to 

 get up and eat. 



It seems to me that this is not merely a provision foi- 

 recouping its energies ; but it keeps the little beast in a 

 ■state of security during a dangerous time of th(i year, when 

 food is .scarce and protecting foliage gone ; when it would 

 stai've if it recjuii'cd as much food as in summer, and 

 when it would be more easily captured by its enemies 

 because it would be more easily seen than in leafy 

 seasons. In the case of the dormouse tlie energies Avliieh 

 make up life iwe latent, waiting for the w.armth of the 

 spring sun to act as a stimulus and awaken them. This 

 strange phenomenon of " latency," which must be cai'ofully 

 considered in reference to sleep, may be illustr'ated by 

 another cxamjile. Take a fowl's egg that lias been laid, 

 say, a week. Leave it alone, and in a month's time it will 

 be about fit for the London market ; leave it a year, and it 

 will be scarcely fit for that ; it dies because it does not 

 receive the right stimulus to rouse its activities. But put 

 this egg into a warm incubator for three weeks, and, barring 

 accidents, presently outsteps a chick. The warmth ha.s 

 awaJvcned it to life. 



Look iii anothci- instance. Tjast August, when in Corn- 



