HIBERNATION
572
HICKS-BEACH
fellow took his material from the former work; the delightful, though somewhat monotonous meter as well as the general plan of the poem he borrowed from the ancient epic of Finland, Kalevala. But this indebtedness must not blind us to the singular merit of Longfellow's work.
The introduction is a beautiful appeal to the reader to appreciate the simple Indian tale, lay aside racial prejudice and delight in the life of nature in which the story moves. The plan of the story is simple, but at first reading may escape notice. The Indians are to be tested. A prophet will appear among them with power to lead them in a life of peace and industry. If they fail to receive and follow him, they are doomed to extinction. This message the Great Spirit descends from heaven to deliver, having assembled the chiefs of all the tribes. The prophet, Hiawatha, is miraculously born, his father being the west wind. He exhibits his strength in a contest with his father, in which he would revenge the wrong his mother had suffered. Then he gives the Indians of the east the benefits that would enable them to become a single, happy and numerous people. He gives them corn to take the place of hunting, opens the river-courses and forest-paths, with the aid of "the very strong man, Kwasind," and teaches them gentler feelings through the music of his friend, the musician, Chibiabos. He invented the canoe and slew the serpents and the great magician who brought disease and death to men. In his marriage to Minnehaha he united east and west, Iroquois and Dacotah, and by teaching picture-writing he made records possible and treaties and communications between distant places. He gained them relief from expensive honors for the dead. But his enemies were too strong for him; the treacherous ice killed Chibiabos, sloth and sleep slew Kwasind, gambling brought depravity and disunion among his people, famine and cold stole from him his beloved wife. Then the white man's ships were seen, and the black-robed priest landed to preach a new gospel. Hiawatha bade his people always treat the white man as his own guests, and then in his canoe sailed away to the west and was never seen again. For he knew that his mission had failed and must fail.
Besides the charm and power of the narrative, the poem is marked by a sweetness of diction hardly surpassed. The Indian names of common things are exceedingly appropriate and beautiful, and the poet introduces them with great effect. His descriptions of the phenomena of nature are brief and full of life. The very monotony of the verse not only makes the reading easy and rapid, but it renders all th© more striking occasional variations*
as: "clear and limpid from the footprints Of the Master of Life descending", or, "speechless in his infinite sorrow,"
Hibernation is a torpid state in which certain animals pass the cold months of the winter. It is to be noted that in hot countries there are animals which pass the summer in a similar condition. In such a state animals scarcely breathe; and the presence of life is shown by the action of the heart alone. Thus a hibernating animal may be kept under water unharmed during a period which would normally be more than sufficient to cause its death. The temperature of an hibernating animal is almost that of the things which surround it. Only the muscles seem to gain in excitability; for the lightest touch may excite most abrupt movements. Hibernation perhaps is merely an intense sleep of long duration, for it may exist in all sorts of degrees. Only a few mammals, including bears, skunks, dormice and prairie-dogs, will hibernate; but reptiles do so freely, as do some fishes. Many snails rest entirely in their shells, almost dried up, but protected by layers of membrane from exposure to the air, during the entire duration of summer. Bats not only hibernate, but during the day rest in a sleep akin to hibernation. Hibernating animals consume their own tissues, although slowly; and when they awake it is to a considerable loss of weight and a keen feeling of hunger.
Hick' ory, the species of the genus Hicoria formerly called Gary a, well-known trees of the walnut family. There are about ten species, and all occur in eastern North America. The nuts are mostly edible; but although they have been used ever since the discovery of America, they have never been properly cultivated and improved. The nuts are mostly gathered from wild trees, although lately orchards containing improved varieties have been planted. The common nuts of the market are the pecan (H. pecan); the shag-bark hickory (H. ovata), with its small nut; and the big shell-bark hickory (H. laciniosa}, with its large thick-shelled, nuts. The pecan-nut is a southern species of hickory found on the border of streams from Iowa and southern Illinois and Indiana to Louisiana and Texas and also in Mississippi and Alabama. Texas provides a large part of the pecans of commerce, but various southern states are now paying attention to the cultivation of the tree. It is the largest of the hickories, rises to a height of from eighty to a hundred feet and above, grows rapidly, its fruit a smooth, thin-shelled brown nut highly valued for its sweetness and flavor.
Hicks=Beach, Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Edwards, Bart., M. P., P. C., D. C. L., English statesman, was born in London, Eng., in 1837, educated at Eton and Christ Church
