Arizona republican., 1905-12-15
HOW ANIMALS SLEEP.
Some Common Facts Which Almost
 Nobody Knows.

In what posture does a bear sleep? What positions are assumed by the monkey. the elephant, the tiger, during slumber? Do fishes sleep? To answer such questions as these one would or dinarily be obliged to search through many works on natural history, but MT. A. Peres has gathered together a large number of facts along this line in an interesting article which he con- tributes to Cosmos. Such items of in formation, he says belong to the class of "common things that nobody knows" Of them the ordinary reader says: That's odd; I never thought of it before" while many students of na- tural history must confess ignorance. In the first place MT. Peres takes up the creatures that sleep standing, among which, he tells us, are included the ass and the mule, as well as the elephant and most of the other pachy- derms. Most birds, he says, sleep standing on one les with the head un- der the wing; several kinds sleep in company like the wild pigeons of North America. Of the sleep of fish he writes:
 Fish have a density so nearly that of water that they can rest quietly on sand or gravel without apparent eff fort. Are they asleep? Probably; though they do not shut their eyes. At the beginning of evening, for instance, the gudgeon chooses a sandy spot be- tween stones and remains there fac ing the current, it's body resting on the lower lobe of the tail and on it's pectoral and ventral fins It is probable that it assumes the same po- sition in winter and remains in it un til spring, hibernating. The barbels and breams sleep in companies, like the gudgeon but on a muddy bottom; the pike sleeps in summer near the bank. at the surface, where the sun light can reach it; the carp keeps near the bottom; the eel hides in holes that it makes near the bank. The observa ton of sea fish is more difficult, as may be imagined; it is now agreed that herrings, mackerel and other so- called migratory fish pass the winter at the bottom in a kind of lethargy. Do they adopt the gugdeon's position? Perhaps, though Pleville le Peley has seen thousands of mackerel half buried in the mud, holding their tails up yer tically above it.
 "Batrachians sleep sitting, with the head in the air; the toad sleeps by day, in holes or under rocks, and re- tires under ground for the winter. He burrows backward, his hind feet and the end of his body serving to dig the hole, while he pushes with his fore feet. The marsupials are generally forced by the shape of their bodies to sleep sitting; the phalanger fox sleeps in a crouching posture. the head be- tween the forefeet The lemurs also crouch, with the long, bushy tail around the hind feet. With the chimpanzees and other apes the hair On the upper arm and the forearms grows in the opposite direction; this serves to protect the animal more eff fectively from the rain. open. Never theless. the viper stretches out woods or in the brush with his arms folded and pressed against the body. The orang takes his siesta with bent back, head hanging on his chest, and some times holding to a branch by one of his extended arms, but generally with both arms hanging by his sides.
 "Penguins and pelicans also rest in a sitting posture; a whole flock takes refuge under a projecting rock, the beak resting on the breast or with neck bent to allow it to rest on the back.
 ''The hare does not sleep with open eyes, as has been wrongly asserted, for its pupils are dramatically closed dur ing sleep