OEDEE OF EODEXTIA. 



487 



And why these labours ? It is a precaution to guarantee 

 warmth ; for the winter is approaching, when they will soon 

 commence their lethargic sleep. In this warm litter of dry 

 herbage they entirely bury themselves, after closing up the 

 entrance to their retreat to further guard against the rigours of 

 an Alpine winter. 



It is also believed that this hay serves them as food when they 

 begin to awake from their torpor, and before herbage has had 

 time to show through the late snow-covered surface. 



It is usually towards the end of November that the Marmots 



, Fig. 211. — Common Murmot {Arctomys marmotta). 



commence to hibernate, and its termination takes place in April ; 

 but these limits are not fixed, and vary each year with the 

 temperature. 



" When the winter habitation of the Marmot is thrown open," 

 says Tschudi, " the temperature is found to be about 80"' to 

 90° Reaumur. All the members of the family, no matter how 

 numerous they may be, are lying one upon the other, rolled up, 

 the head towards the tail, in a torpid state, as if they were dead. 

 The seven or eight months of winter in these high regions would 

 infallibly kill them, if this sleep did not guarantee their being 

 able to maintain the quiet life of a plant."* 



* Le Monde den Alpc.i. By F. de Tschudi. Translated from the German by 0. 

 Bourrit. Vol. iii., p. 231. 



