THE MOUSE. 



them one of a dormouse having been taken in its nest in the 

 middle of December; the heat of its captor's hand and the 

 warmth of the room completely revived it, and it nimbly scaled 

 the furniture, finding no difficulty in ascending and descend- 

 ing its polished surfaces, and leaping from chair to chair 

 with great agUity. On being set at liberty, it sprang at 

 least two yards to a table. It did not seem alarmed at 

 being taken in the hand. In the evening it was placed with 

 its nest in a box, and the next morning had relapsed into 

 torpidity. 



Another account in the same volume informs us that a 

 dormouse which had been sent a distance of 140 miles seemed 

 but httle disturbed by the ride. " !Prom that time till the month 

 of April it slept in its snug dormitory, a deal box lined with 

 wool, when it awoke and readily ate of apples and nuts. It is 

 easily alarmed, being more timid than tame, but shows no sign 

 of anger on being taken in the hand. As it sleeps the greater 

 part of the day, I cannot then closely watch its habits ; but in 

 the evening it wakes up and is very lively and froHcsome, 

 running, on being let out of its cage, up the beU-rope, where it 

 will sit for hours in the fold of the knot timidly watching our 

 movements." 



The dormouse is found not only in England, but throughout 

 the whole of Southern Europe. 



Besides the common dormouse, there are the fat dormouse 

 and the garden dormouse. The latter is somewhat larger than 

 the common mouse, and closely resembles the common dor- 

 mouse in its habits, though with less activity. It hybemates 

 bke the last-mentioned animal, but, curiously enough, grows fat 

 instead of thin during its protracted slumbers. It is, however, 

 hard to pin one's faith to the ancient belief that the dormouse 

 grows fat on sleep, and that if its hybernation were by any 

 accident extraordinarily protracted, it would die of sheer obesity ; 

 it is more probable that it is more easily roused to life than 

 others of its brethren, and that each time it wakes it makes a 

 substantial meal and then tucks itself comfortably to sleep again. 

 This being the case, its inordinate fatness ceases to be a wonder. 



The fat dormouse was highly esteemed by the ancient Romans 

 as a table delicacy ; there were established glia/ria, or places 

 where dormice were bred and fattened for the table. The fur 

 of the fat dormouse is long and soft ; ash-coloured above, and 

 dingy white beneath. 



The garden dormouse, is so called from its habit of invading 



