HINTS FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND FOOD OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
121 
principle in toads, fro^s, and many other species 
of reptiles, may remain suspended for thousands 
of years, when it is occasioned by the entire exclu¬ 
sion of air. Too many well-authenticated instan¬ 
ces have been given, to admit of any doubt of the 
truth of this assertion. In opening cavities in the 
solid marble, sandstone, breccias, or conglomerates, 
and other species of rocks, these reptiles have been 
seen to leap out, and exhibit all the activity of the 
most youthful of their species. And from the well- 
known slow formations of these minerals, it is cer¬ 
tain that centuries, and more probably their de¬ 
cades, must have elapsed, since these specimens of 
antiquity crawled into these fissures for a tempo¬ 
rary asylum, and were there imprisoned for suc¬ 
cessive ages. 
It was one of the fables of past times, which 
came down late into the last century, for it was 
asserted by the learned Dr. Johnson and others, 
that some species of birds, especially the different 
varieties of the swallow, buried themselves on the 
approach of cold weather, in pools and stagnant 
waters, and came out in the following spring, to 
renew their life of activity and song. But this 
was a mistake, originating from the fact, that 
many of the feathered tribes, and especially the 
black-bird and hirundo family, gather about 
marshy places in great numbers in autumn, pre¬ 
paratory to taking their distant flight to the sunny 
regions of the south, and being last seen here, they 
have, on this slight evidence, had their wintry resi¬ 
dence assigned them among the amphibious and 
finny tribes, by those who ought to have drawn 
their conclusions more carefully. The chimney, 
and some other varieties of the swallow, have oc¬ 
casionally been discovered hybernating in large 
hollow trees for successive years and in these 
places, they have been found in a chilled, torpid 
condition; and from the great accumulation of 
skeletons and feathers at the bottom, it is believed 
only the youngest and most athletic survive, to re- 
oew their existence the following summer. In all 
the instances above cited, life is continued without 
the aid of food, for not a particle is taken while the 
being continues in a state of torpor. When life is 
accelerated on the return of spring, the bear that 
slept, undisturbed by hunger, from December till 
March, slaughters whole sties of pigs to sate his 
greedy appetite. The frog, that was contemporary 
with his kin, which, at the command of Moses, 
infested the palaces of Pharaoh and his subjects, 
has dosed through 3,500 years, perhaps, without one 
twinge from his gastric, now demolishes whole 
hecatombs of flies at a single supper; and the 
twittering swallow, that skims the placid waters 
in a summer’s eve, like the fitful tracery of a glan¬ 
cing dream, enmaws an insect at every angle of its 
arrowy flight. 
The* nurseling that spends its time between the 
maternal breast and its downy cot, and knows no 
other exercise than the nurse’s fondling, when 
healthy and well supplied with food, is always 
fat. 
Animals fat slower in winter on the same 
amount of food than in the summer, or require 
more food to produce the same quantity of fat in 
this season, except when annoyed by excessive 
heat or flies; the irritation and exercise occasioned 
by these, and the consequent loss of flesh, being 
sometimes more than an equivalent for the extra 
loss of the carbon from the system in extreme cold 
weather. Animals will fat much faster in cool 
weather by having their food given them of the 
temperature of the blood, which ranges in the do¬ 
mestic animals from 93 to somewhat beyond 100 
degrees. They should not be allowed an excess 
of water, and some assert that salt is prejudicial 
to their fatting, perhaps in consequence of indu¬ 
cing too frequent drinking. Its healthful influence 
on the system, should, however, always insure its 
use. Excessive quantities of watery food, as un¬ 
cooked roots, pumpkins, and fruits, are hinderan- 
ces to speedy fatting. These all contain less wa¬ 
ter when steamed or boiled, and drained. 
How different is the condition and treatment of 
the thoroughly trained racer. Here the object is 
to get sinew, muscle, fibre. Fat is but an obstruc¬ 
tion of the object desired, and the great and 
necessary aim is to get rid of every particle of it, 
by a rigid course of severe exercise and sweating. 
Two objects are indispensable to the racer, abun¬ 
dance of well-prepared muscular flesh, unaccom¬ 
panied by fat; and sufficiency of carbon to supply 
the excessive call for respiration, induced by his 
incredible exertions. But all vegetable food fur¬ 
nishes enough of carbon, and it is only necessary 
to find the due proportion of that which is suffi¬ 
ciently nitrogenised. This can only be obtained 
from gram, in a condition suited to the stomach of 
the horse. 
In man and all carnivorous animals, nitrogen is 
procured principally from the flesh consumed, 
though much is afforded by the finer portions of 
grain, and a very small portion from vegetables. 
Roots, fruits, sugar, beer, wine, &c., yield a supply 
of carbon. Food, whether in man or beast, should 
not be taken in too concentrated a form. A mix¬ 
ture with certain less nutritious substances, is re¬ 
quisite to distend the stomach and allow it an op¬ 
portunity for healthful action. Captain Parry, m 
his almost superhuman efforts to reach the North 
pole, carried with him pemmican, which is dried 
beef reduced to the smallest possible compass; 
but while this afforded the most nutrition in the 
least bulk and weight, it was necessary to expand 
the stomach by the addition of some lighter food. 
The vast difference in the aliment of persons 
under the poles or the equator, is worthy of note. 
The denizen of the tropics is forced to confine him¬ 
self to the lightest kinds of sustenance, rice and 
other grain; fruits, acids, &c., containing on an 
average not more than 12 per cent, of carbon; 
while the Laplander, Norwegian, and Esquimaux, 
can swallow with impunity, fat and alcohol by the 
hour; the former containing over 70 per cent, of 
carbon. This excessive consumption of carbon, in 
which these articles are so rich, is rendered in¬ 
noxious, in consequence of a proportionate combus¬ 
tion with the oxygen of the air, which is necessary 
to supply the waste of animal heat, occasioned by 
their rigorous climate. This accounts for the in¬ 
creased quantity of meat and other food that may 
be eaten in winter, beyond what is required for 
summer, by such as take active exercise in the 
