252 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



the morning«till late. Besides, it retires to rest for every 

 shower ; and does not move at all in wet days. 



When one reflects on the state of this strange being, it 

 is a matter of wonder to find that Providence should 

 bestow such a profusion of days, such a seeming waste 

 of longevity, on a reptile that appears to relish it so 

 little as to squander more than two-thirds of its existence 

 in a joyless stupor, and be lost to all sensation for months 

 together in the profoundest of slumbers. 



While I was writing this letter, a moist and warm 

 afternoon, with the thermometer at 50, brought forth 

 troups of shell-snails ; and, at the same juncture, the 

 tortoise heaved up the mould and put out its head ; 

 and the next morning came forth, as it were raised from 

 the dead ; and walked about till four in the afternoon. 

 This was a curious coincidence ! a very amusing occur- 

 rence ! to see such a similarity of feelings between the 

 two (f>ep6oiKoi 1 for so the Greeks call both the shell-snail 

 and the tortoise. 



Summer birds are, this cold and backward spring, un- 

 usually late : I have seen but one swallow yet. This 

 conformity with the weather convinces me more and 

 more that they sleep in the winter. 



LETTER LI 



Selborne, Sept. 3, 1781. 



I HAVE now read your miscellanies through with much 

 care and satisfaction : and am to return you my best 

 thanks for the honourable mention made in them of me 

 as a naturalist, which I wish I may deserve. 



In some former letters I expressed my suspicions that 



