HIBERNATION 
against the production of swallows that have been kept 
in captivity, knowing well (having myself kept them all 
the year in a cage) that this can be done ; but what I 
must insist upon is, that any swallow brought to me in 
the months before named must be alive and well authenti- 
cated as to the place and conditions in which it was 
found. 
I have not, as a result of this offer, had to pay for a 
single specimen, otherwise I certainly should have been 
ruined had there existed any truth in the statement 
made by the people who believe they know all about the 
subject. 
A reference to the dictionary explains the word “ hiber- 
nate,” to winter: to pass the season of winter in close 
quarters or in seclusion. The words hibernate and hiber- 
nation would appear to be used in this correspondence in 
a wrong sense. 
Professor Newton, writing on the subject, says: — “The 
alleged torpidity of swallows or other birds is quite a 
different thing, and I have never met (nor do I expect to 
meet) with evidence of it that I can accept.” 
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