GILT-TAILED DORMOUSE. 
ingly fat, and they are equally so Avhen they 
revive in the spring. This quantity of fat 
serves for an internal nourishment to the ani- 
mal, and supplies what it loses by respiration. 
As cold is the sole cause of their torpor, and 
as they only fall into this state when the tem- 
perature of the air is below 10 or 11 degrees, 
they ^frequently revive during the winter; for, 
in this season, there are often many davs v. hen 
the liquor in the thermometer stands at 1 2, 
13, 14, and even at higher degrees: and, as 
long as fine weather of this sort continues, 
the Dormice come out of their holes, lo search 
for food, or eat their autumnal hoard. Aris- 
totle, and all succeeding naturalists, have as- 
serted, that Dormice pass the whole winter 
without eating ; that, in this season of absti- 
nence, they grow very fat; and, that thev are 
better nourished bv sleep alone, than other ani- 
mals bv food. This notion is both absurd and 
impossible. The Dormouse, which sleeps four 
or five months, can onlv iattcn bv the air it re- 
spires. Supposing a part of this air to be 
converted into nourishment, an augmentation 
so considerable could never be the result. It 
would not even be sufficient to repair the con- 
tinual 
