She had promised, you know, to tell me her history, but circumstances induced her to put it on paper, and I shall lose no time in transcribing it for your amusement, my dear mamma.
She was anxious to return to her father and mother, as her boys spent this vacation with Mr. Crispin, a very old friend.
To-morrow, as soon as the Lumleys go away, I shall begin to copy her history.
26th.—My indulgent uncle had requested the gardener, or any one who happened to find a dormouse, to bring it to him; and Franklin, in stubbing up an old hollow root of a tree, luckily found one of those little fat creatures fast asleep. It is more plump, but very like a common mouse; the nose is blunter, and its tail is not so pointed; it is of a dun red all over, except the throat, which is white. It lay in a most comfortable little nest of woven grass, which has not been disturbed; and beside it there was a small collection of nuts and acorns.
My aunt has lent me a cage, and we shall see whether the warmth of the house can overcome its habit of sleeping during the rest of the winter; but I shall not for some days put it into a warm room; it shall be treated as if it had been frozen, and revived very gradually.
The same person, my uncle says, who tried the experiment on crickets, which I mentioned to you a fortnight ago, shut up some garden snails in a wafer-box, where he secluded them from food and water; but not from air, for he made several small holes in the box. He also put a few snails into a bottle from which all air was excluded; they, of course, died; but those in the perforated boxes retired into their shells, the aperture of which they closed with a thin membrane; and there they remained apparently dead, as long as they were kept dry. On being dropped into water of the temperature of 70°, they were found quite alive in four hours, and sticking to the plate which covered the vessel. One large snail was imprisoned for three years, and yet it revived on being put into water.
I was told a most singular instance of the length of time for which life may be suspended in those animals. Some snail-shells had for many years formed part of a little museum; one night the window of the room was left open; heavy rain beat into the case which had not been shut; and the next day, what had been considered only specimens of shells, were found crawling about the walls.
This faculty, however, is not peculiar to snails; for M. Socoloff, a Russian, found that some flies and small beetles, which had been long immersed in spirit of wine, had returned to life on being thrown into warm wood ashes. He was astonished at seeing the flies start up, and, after wiping the dust from their wings, fly away as if nothing had happened.
29th, Sunday.—My uncle told us this morning, that the book of Leviticus was so called, because it describes the sacrifices and services of the tabernacle, which were to be performed by the tribe of Levi. He then read to us some of the chapters, and he answered in the kindest manner the questions which we all put to him, about the different offerings, and the regulations to be observed by the priests.
As he closed the book, he said, “The object of these observances has passed away with the Mosaic dispensation, and it is now only necessary to understand their general tendency. Sacrifices and offerings had been established in the infancy of mankind, and, though perverted by folly and idolatry, they continued to form a part of every worship in every country. It was the universal belief that sins could only be expiated by corresponding sacrifices of what was most valued; and gratitude for worldly blessings and riches seemed to demand some proportionate offerings.