196 
MAMMALIA. 
confinement, it seemed, upon the whole, pretty well reconciled to it. 
It continued active, and both ate and drank abundantly. I fed it 
upon bread, the grain of Indian corn (Zea Mays), and the berries 
of the Prinos verticillatus, sometimes called black-alder. 
“ On or about the 2 2d of November, it passed into the torpid 
state. It is curious to observe, that at the time it became torpid, 
the weather was unusually mild for the season of the year, and 
moreover the animal was kept in a warm room, in which there was 
a large fire the greater part of the day and night. I sometimes 
roused it from its torpid state ; at other times it came spontaneously 
out of it. During' the intervals of its waking, it both ate and 
drank. It was frequently most active, while the weather was ex- 
tremely cold in December ; but when I placed the jar upon a thick 
cake of ice, in the open air, its movements or activity seemed 
wholly directed to the making of a comfortable habitation out of 
the hay with which I supplied it. It was sufficiently evident, how- 
ever, that the cold was not the only cause of its torpid state. It 
was finally killed by the application of too great a degree of heat 
to it, whilst in its torpor. 
“ During its torpor, it commonly laid with its head between its 
hind legs, with the claws or feet of these closely applied to the 
head. Its respiration could always be perceived, but was very 
slow. 
“ The fact of the torpidity of this little animal is known to the 
gardeners and others near the city. They call it the ‘ seven 
sleepers,’ and assert, that it is frequently found in the earth, at 
the lower extremity of the horse-radish, and other perpendicular 
roots. Does it use these as a measure of the distance to which it 
shall go in the earth, to avoid the influence of the frost ? 
“ I have said, that the Dipus Americanus becomes torpid in the 
neighborhood of this city. But this, I believe, is not always the 
case. During the winter-season, this little animal and another 
species, which I call Dipus mellivorus, take possession of the 
