Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-02-03

/ 1ereO VIVID. tNeHONe uOW tu6 Drain, oven
take out the spinal column and sever the
various muscles, and yet the heart beats
| on for several hours, while for nearly day
will it show signs OF vitality. How little
the creature depends upon respiration can
be shown by surrounding it with gas, car
bonic acid, ETC., and for long time their
effects upon the animal, that in its normal
state would be instantaneous, are not per.
ceptible.
THE BEARS.
Many of the bears are winter sleepers,
and are often captured by well.known
marks upon the snow, recognized by the
sportsman. Like the hedgehog, the bear
depends entirely upon It's accumulation OF
fat, and during the fall is in prime condi-
tion, when, in October or November, it en-
ters upon It's winter home. 0ae of these
nestsof the black bear, found by the writer
several miles from Lake Usowana, in the
Adirondacks, was beneath. a huge tree,
four or five of whose great roots branched
out on each side. TIE earth he'd been
removed on the south side, the
interior lined with leaves, twigs,
and other refuse matter that would
make a comfortable bed, and covered
with snow ia dense jungle, the animal
had perfect security. SJon after the
besr has retired the intestinea shrink
and become clogged or hardened with
substance known as tspsn. in reality
pine leaves and the bark Of fir trees thai
they eat immediately prior to entering upon
the state of Information, that remains in
position until spring, and so slow is the ex-
haustion of fat, that is now the food-sup-
L. go,
months after their involuntary eniombment
as fat as when they went in. During the
sleep the skin upon the balls Of the feet is
renewed. The males of the polar bear do
not hibernate, fact proven by the late
polar expedition of the yacht Era. Ae.
cording 10 Leigh Smith. they did not see
female bear from October TO March 1851.
The winter home is merely shelter IN the
lee of Eonle rock, the bear allowing herself
to be showed il. Here the young are born
before spring, their additional respiration
serving to enlarge The snowy house, from
which they emerge in early spring, the
mother well worn by her attempts at sus-
tanning family under what would appear
exceedingly adverse circumstances.
SOUTHERN ANIMALS.
The badger, d0rmouse, porcupine, ham.
ster and many others enter moro or less
into this strange condition, while the CAGES
OF partial hIberdaSioa ere extremely eom-
NOR, hares having been found buried in the
SNOW for weeks, and even sheep have shared
the same fate without injury. The dor
mouse erects it's winter home of various
grasses four or five feet from toe ground,
and go skilliully ar5 they interviewer and
joined together that the closest disceTnmens
Is necessary TO distinguish the entrance
chat, indeed, is only known to the animal
ITSELF Soft moses line the home, among
! which the sleepers lie until early spring,
often awakening while snow is yet upon
the ground. From now until warmer days
| they merely sleep, awakening, from time TO
J., time to feed from q store of nuts laid up
for the occasion. Ia southern countries,
where the intense heat is fatal to animal
1 life as the lowering temperature of the far
north or south, q similar condition is en-.
! tered into by many animals, known as 9s-
tivation. 10 collecting about Bahia Blanca,
! in September, DArwin unearthed spiders,
lizards and toads, sll in lethargic eondi-
ton. A week later tkey began to appear
of their own accord, and three days before
the equinox all nature was prepared to
greet it. On the days not Immediately
preceding this awakening, the tempera-
ture, as recorded by this eminent natural
list, rarely arose above l5', but in the
eleven days preceding it there WAS mean
of So, showing that @stivation is not
wholly the result Of a change of tempera-
ture, but is dependent upon the occurrence
of drought Many alligators and crOco'
dies pass the dry periods in similar man
ner. The mud of the marsh croco.
die are often foued in Ceylon, and have
been taken out perfect casts of the animal,
telling the story of It's Information. This
habit of the crocodile has been the cause in
various countries, especially Ceylon, OF
ludierous Incidents. In one, an English
officer had retired to his tent, which sud-
denly rose in air, With all its furniture, ont
of the wreck of which appeared an awsk'
ened crocodile that was here hibernating,
the fire built without having, perhaps, dis.
turbed its repose, TO the establishment and
confusion of the campers.out. The yellow
snake OF Jamaica, that astains length OF
twenty feet, eXcavates a burrow for pur-
poses of partial Information, while our
snakes Of the north are well known to pass
the entire winter in the deepest sleep.
4 Among the vertebrate sleepers of the south
is found the tanrec Of Madagascar, that,
burrowed in the sand, sleeps away three
months of the year. With hardly an ex-
ception, the mollusks of the Mediterranean
provinces lie dormant throughout the sum-
mer. Many fishes are perfect hibernatoIs,
lying in the mud during the cold season,
or, in the south, passing the season of
drought in sun-baked cases, in almost per.
feet sleep. Not only during one season
is this kept up, but several and, in India,
ponds that have been dry for extended pc.
RODS, when filed, were, as if by magic, pop.
ulated with the awakened finny sleepers.
Are not our trees in winter sleeping
The sap has ceased to flow, their growth
has stopped. and all their functions are at
rest. Seeds lie dormant for years. Corn
taken from the Aztec tombs has been
awakened ~ in the present decade, pro.
cess analogous to the awakening of animal
life from summer or winter sleep. New
York Post.