The Red Cloud chief., 1889-02-22

q snail or of q cOld-blOOded vertebrate
1t is certainly q very marvellous adap
tation to the animals circumstances
All its fires burn lower: there is u sur
prising economy OF the living fuel. and
consequently. little or no waste. II.
establishment" is reduced. its scale o
living contracted, its expenditure
made to suit its income. or rather il.
want OF income. The astonishing thins
i, that an animal. with all the organ
and functions of mans own class. car
do this and still keep alive and ready
to begin its active summer existence
none the worse for its long, death-liks
trance.
The explanation is that the winter
sleepers have u within them
selves. The stores that some Of them
like the vOle and the hamster. lay uE
in their holes underground are not in
tended as food during the winter: MOI
is it probable that the honey stored by
bees is ordinarily SO intended. In
those cases where an external store Is
provided it seems rather to serve as g
supply for the first days or weeks
after waking. when the creatures would
not have the strength. even IL they had
the opportunity OF going in search OF
their food. The real winter store ia
within them. A winter-sleeper. such as
the bat. or the dOrmOuse. or the marmct
feeds upon itself. The Ease is not the
same As in a sheep buried in a o
drift. or as in the famous case OF Mar
tells fat pig. These animals also feed
upon themselves. but their life goes on
At full blast. their breathing and their
other functions being hardly less active
than usual. The hibernator makes
fewer calls upon its husbanded re.
sources. The great and necessarily
active muscle Of the heart is the only
tissue that needs to be supplied with
fOrce-prOducing material, although all
the muscles get "A share OF the MUSCLE
food that is in the blood. and are in a
peculiarly Ovcrcharged OF irritable
state in consequence Of having nothing
to spend their force upon. The grand
resource of the winter-sleeper is its
store OF fat. 1t accumulates a quite
unusual amount OF fat in the summer
and autumn, and dispOses ii mostly in
certain interior deposits. which are
provided with blood YES
sells. Now. in ordinary circumstances.
fat is of no use for living force and
heat unless there he plenty of fresh
oxygen constantly carried to it by the
blood to bIrn il; i. is like the cOmbus-
ton Of a candle, which al not 60 on
except in the presence Of air. But the
sleeper does not breathe; the blood
no fresh oxygen from the air TO
the fat OF to any other tissue. W.
require another kind OF process
to convert the fat into force. or
into muscle-food for the heart. The
explanation of this is found in the veg
Kingdom. Many seeds. and in
n less degree, some bulbs and tubers.
their winter store partly in the
form of oil or fat; when they begin to
sprOut in spring. the first change in
order tn make the fat available for the
of growth il to have ii con
into sugar and starch. That is
done by means of q fermentation. or
change Of state. the ferments being va
The same subtle transfOrma-
ton takes place in the winter-sleeper's
store of fat; if it depended upon burn
ing its fat in the usual way. by con-
supplies of fresh oxygen. it
would be in the fatal position Of hav-
ing abundant assets. but no means Of
realizing them. The liquidation of its
resources is effected by a subtle fer
mcnt action. which not only requires
no oxygen. but is actually most effect
i've when oxygen is excluded.
And now comes the strangest thing
in the whole problem Of winter sleep.
The animal goes into winter quarters
with a great store OF fat and comes out
with its fat tissues all wasted. shriveled
and used up. On the other hand it
comes out Of its sleep having lost little
or nothing in weight. and vita al
store Of another kind. which
has accumulated entirely while it vas
The new store has accumu-
at the expense Of the fat. Dr. the
store of the latter has been slowly
changed into another store of a sub
specially suited to feed the heart
all through the winter and to feed the
organism generally in the first days
its awaking. This store is the
alternating gland. Itfollows
the same main lines Of disposition "a
the fat store. being a store tissue in
the proper sense of the term. II is OF
the color of liver and Is mostly packed
upon the back. between the shoulder
blades. sending extensions under the
and down into the chest
the heart and the great vessels.
and among the muscles Of the neck and
Il Is rs closely in contact
with the blOOd-vessels As the fat store
the blood takes upthe liquidated
assets from the latter and deposits
them In the former. whence they are
carried Is they arr wanted 10 feed the
heart during the long winter. and the
organism generally in the first days OF
bestirring itself. No one has yet
examined that derived or
store into which the fat IL
But there Il no doubt that it
is animal starch or sugar. just Is 10
seeds the oils change into vegetable
starch and sugar. Animal starch or