Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-04-14
THE NAP OF A DORMOUSE.
He Rouses Himself Occasionally and Takes
Refreshments.

ae Rouses Himself Occasionally and Takes
Refreshments.
The dormouse is one of the small ami
mails which hibernate or sleep through
the coolest winter months, and early in
the spring, when the first leaves appear
on the trees, rouse themselves from
their long nap. 1t seems a very COM
Portable way of cheating the winter"
There are some cold-blooled people
who. feeling unhappy and i'll at ease
while the thermometer is in the vicinity
of freezing-point, rather envy the dor
mouse and others of his class their
ability to get rid of the winter alto
gether.
Some of the small alternating ami
mails sleep constantly from fall until
the warm days of spring. But the plan
of the dormouse is somewhat different.
He wakes occasionally through the
winter. and takes light luncheon of
seeds and nuts. pieces of root, and
other edibles which he has laid up for
private consumption. Then he falls
asleep again, and this he repeats at in
tervals throughout the winter: for in
the fall he has made abundant provi-
sion for all his winter wants, and he
uOeS HOI nave W NUM- IOI
An Italian naturalist. in the early part
of the century, made some curious ex-
perimentS upon the dormouse and other
animals which sleep through the cold
weather. He kept dorInouse in cup
board in his study. closely watching its
actions when the time of its periodical
sleep was at hand. On the 24th of De-
cemher. when the thermometer was
about forty degrees-that is. eight de-
grees above the freezing point-the
dormOuse curled himself up amongst
heap of papers and went to sleep. On
the 21th of December, when the Their
mometer was several degrees lower. Mr..
Mangili ascertained that the animal
breathed and suspended his respiration
at regular intervals: that is. that after
four minutes of perfect repose, during
which he appeared to be dead, he
breathed about twenty-four times in the
space of a minute and a half,
and then his breathing was again
completely suspended, and again re-
newed. When the thermometer fell
nearly to freezing-point the intervals
of what appeared suspended animat ton
were six minutes. AS the thermometer
became higher-that is, as the weather
was less cold-the intervals of respose
We're reduced to three minutes. AS the
winter grew intensely cold, the times
of perfect respose, during which no
eathing could be perceived. became
much longer. sometimes more than
twenty minutes. Mr.. MangiE conclud-
ed that the effects of confinement
upon this particular dormouse caused
him to sleep longer than in a state of
nature.
Within ten days of the time of its
falling asleep the dormouse awoke and
ate little. food being provided on the
shelf near him. He then went to sleep
again, and continued to sleep and
wake at about these intervals through
out the winter AS spring approached,
his sleep became lighter, until the warm
days caused him to shake off altogether
his drowsineSS.
When a dOrmouse is discovered in his
natural retreat his body is cold to the
touch, his eyes are shut and his respira-
ton is slow and interrupted, as de-
scribed. Torpid animals, when thus
found, can generally be shaken, rolled
about, or even struck without arousing
them. But as fine weather advances
the heat of their bodies increases. until
they finally return to their normal con-
dition, and in the pleasant spring days,
when the trees are budding and the
gardens getting green, they become
once more the busy and happy inhab-
itants of the fields and woods, actively
searching for food to crafty their keen
appetites. sharpened after their long
winter nap.-Harper's Young People.