Hibernation

(-nā'shun.) [From L. hiems-hibernus, winter.] (Zool.) A term used to expre a peculiar condition of sleep in which certain animals, as the bats, the hedgehog, and the dormouse, pa the winter season. During this winter sleep the respiration is very nearly suspended, the circulation is reduced to an extreme degree of slowne , and the excretions are very scanty. The physiological use of H. is doubtle to enable certain animals to avoid the consequences of severe winter cold, and (especially in the case of the insectivorous animals) the deprivation of food. Before the period of H., a large amount of fat is accumulated in the organism, and this fat constitutes the fuel on which the animal lives and supports its comparatively trifling heat during the winter. [s. 454]