• "HAMSTER. 
» 
forth two or three times in a year ; and brings 
from sixteen to eighteen at a birth. Their 
growth is very quick; and, at about the age 
of three weeks, the old one forces them out 
of the burrows, to take care of themselves. 
She shews little affection towards them ; for 
if any one digs into the hole, she attempts to 
save herself by burrowing deeper into the 
earth, and totally neglects the safety of her 
brood : on the contrary, if attacked in the 
season of courtship, she defends the Male with 
the utmost fury. 
* e They lie torpid from the first colds to the 
end. of the winter; and, during that time, are 
seemingly quite insensible, and have the ap- 
pearance of being dead: their limbs are stiff, 
and the body is as cold as ice ; not even spirits 
tof wine, or oil of vitriol, poured into them., 
can produce the least mark of sensibility! 
It is only in places beyond the reach of the 
air in which this animal grows torpid; for the 
severest cold on the surface does not affect it ? 
as has been proved by experiment. In it's an- 
nual revival, it begins first to lose the stiffness 
of it's limbs; then breuthes deeply, and by 
long 
