346 BACKBONED ANIMALS. 
said to have become cold-blooded. The normal temperature of the zizel 
is 32° (centigrade). As the cause of the sleep is not directly the result 
of cold, neither is the awakening caused by a rise in temperature. In 
experiments with the same-mentioned animal it awoke without any 
change in the outside temperature, being two hours and forty-five 
minutes in awakening. In the first hour and forty-five minutes the 
body temperature rose 6.6° (centigrade), and in the following fifty 
minutes 17°, It was accompanied by no vigorous movements or 
quicker respiration. During hibernation animals can be placed under 
water without ill effect, though it would be fatal in a few moments if 
awake. According to Kirby, joint author of “Introduction to Ento- 
mology,” an authentic case is recorded of an instance of human hiber- 
nation in India. The man was buried alive in the presence of Sir 
Claude Wade, the grave guarded and watched for several months, and 
the hibernator finally taken out, gradually awakening. 
The black bear ( Ursus Americanus) is quite common in 
northern New York. They attain a weight of four hundred 
and fifty pounds and a length of eight feet, and are of a 
dark-brown or black color. In extreme weather the fe- 
males prepare a den, and as a rule pass into a state of 
hibernation, during which the intestines are clogged with 
vegetable substance, generally taken from the pine. In 
January or February, generally every third year, the young 
(three or four) are born, remaining under the mother’s 
protection for five or six months. They prey upon sheep, 
calves, etc., and also eat berries, honey, ants, etc. The 
grizzly bear (Ursus ferox) of the western slopes of the 
Rocky Mountains, the Syrian bear of Mount Lebanon, the 
Malayan bear, and the sloth or honey bear (A/e/ursus) of 
Tndia, are others of the family. 
VALUE.—Oil, fat, skin, teeth, hair, and viscera. 
Badgers, Otters, etc. (Austelide).—The true badg- 
ers (Zaxidea) are found in central and western North and 
South America, and are thick-set animals about two feet 
long, not including the tail, which attains a length of six 
inches. The skunk (Mephitis), twelve different species, 
ranges from Canada to the Straits of Magellan, The com- 
