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LEMMING , the native name of a small Scandinavian rodent mammal Lemmus norvegicus (or L. lemmus), belonging to the See also:mouse tribe, or Muridae, and nearly related, especially in the structure of its cheek-See also:teeth, to the voles. Specimens vary considerably in See also:size and See also:colour, but the usual length is about 5 in., and the soft See also:fur yellowish-See also:- BROWN
- BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
- BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
- BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
- BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
- BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
- BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
- BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
- BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
- BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
- BROWN, JOHN (1784–1858)
- BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
- BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
- BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
- BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
- BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
- BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
- BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
- BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
- BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
- BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
- BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
- BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)
brown, marked with spots of dark brown and See also:black. It has a See also:short, rounded See also:head, obtuse muzzle, small See also:bead-like eyes, and short rounded ears, nearly concealed by the fur. The tail is very short. The feet are small, each with five claws, those of the fore feet strongest, and fitted for scratching and digging. The usual See also:habitat of lemmings is the high lands or fells of the See also:great central See also:mountain See also:chain of See also:Norway and See also:Sweden, from the See also:southern branches of the Langfjeldene in See also:Christiansand slift to the See also:North Cape and the Varangerfjord. See also:South of the See also:Arctic circle they are, under See also:ordinary circumstances, confined to the plateaus covered with See also:dwarf See also:birch and See also:juniper above the conifer-region, though in See also:Tromso amt and in Finmarken they occur in all suitable localities down to the level of the See also:sea. The See also:nest, under a tussock of grass or a See also:- STONE
- STONE (0. Eng. shin; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Stein, Du. steen, Dan. and Swed. sten; the root is also seen in Gr. aria, pebble)
- STONE, CHARLES POMEROY (1824-1887)
- STONE, EDWARD JAMES (1831-1897)
- STONE, FRANK (1800-1859)
- STONE, GEORGE (1708—1764)
- STONE, LUCY [BLACKWELL] (1818-1893)
- STONE, MARCUS (184o— )
- STONE, NICHOLAS (1586-1647)
stone, is constructed of short dry straws, and usually lined with See also:hair. The number ofyoung in each nest is generally five, sometimes only three occasionally seven or eight, and at least two broods are produced annually. Their See also:food is entirely See also:vegetable, especially grass roots and stalks, shoots of dwarf birch, See also:reindeer See also:lichens and mosses, in See also:search of which they See also:form, in See also:winter, See also:long galleries through the See also:turf or under the See also:snow. They are restless, courageous and pugnacious little animals. When suddenly disturbed, instead of trying to See also:- ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli
escape they sit upright, with their back against a stone, hissing and showing fight in a determined manner.
The circumstance which has given popular See also:interest to the lemming is that certain districts of the cultivated lands of Norway and Sweden, where in ordinary circumstances they are unknown, are, at uncertain intervals varying from five to twenty or more years, overrun by an See also:army of these little creatures, which steadily and slowly advance, always in the same direction, and regardless of all obstacles, See also:swimming streams and even lakes of several See also:miles in breadth, and committing considerable devastation on their See also:line of See also:march by the quantity of food they consume. In their turn they are pursued and harassed by crowds of beasts
The See also:Norwegian Lemming (Lemmus Norvegicus).
and birds of See also:prey, as bears, wolves, foxes, See also:dogs, See also:wild See also:cats, stoats, weasels, eagles, See also:hawks and owls, and never spared by See also:man; even domestic animals, as See also:cattle, goats and reindeer, join in the destruction, stamping them to the ground with their feet, and even eating their bodies. See also:Numbers also See also:die from diseases produced apparently from overcrowding. None returns, and the onward march of the survivors never ceases until they reach the sea, into which they plunge, and swimming onwards in the same direction perish in the waves. These sudden appearances of vast bodies of lemmings, and their singular See also:habit of persistently pursuing the same onward course of See also:migration, have given rise to various speculations, from the See also:ancient belief of the Norwegian peasants, shared by Olaus See also:Magnus, that they fall down from the clouds, to the See also:hypothesis that they are acting in obedience to an See also:instinct inherited from ancient times, and still seeking the congenial See also:home in the submerged See also:Atlantis, to which their ancestors of the See also:Miocene See also:period were wont to resort when driven from their ordinary dwelling-places by crowding or scarcity of food. The See also:principal facts regarding these migrations seem to be as follows. When any See also:combination of circumstances has occasioned an increase of the numbers of the lemmings in their ordinary dwelling-places, impelled by the restless or migratory instinct possessed in a less See also:developed degree by so many of their congeners, a See also:movement takes See also:place at the edge of the elevated See also:plateau, and a migration towards the See also:lower-lying See also:land begins. The whole See also:body moves forward slowly, always advancing in the
same See also:general direction in which they originally started, but following more or less the course of the great valleys. They only travel by See also:night; and, staying in congenial places for considerable periods, with unaccustomed abundance of provender, notwithstanding the destructive influences to which they are exposed, they multiply excessively during their See also:journey, having families more numerous and frequent than in their usual homes. The progress may last from one to three years, according to the route taken, and the distance to be traversed until the sea-See also:coast is reached, which in a See also:country so surrounded by See also:water as the Scandinavian See also:peninsula must be the ultimate See also:goal of such a journey. This may be either the See also:Atlantic or the Gulf of See also:Bothnia, according as the migration has commenced from the See also:west or the See also:east See also:side of the central elevated plateau. Those that finally perish in the sea, committing what appears to be a voluntary See also:suicide, are only acting under the same See also:blind impulse which has led them previously to See also:cross shallower pieces of water with safety. In Eastern See also:Europe, See also:Northern See also:Asia and North See also:America the See also:group is represented by the allied L. obensis, and in See also:Alaska, by L. nigripes; while the circumpolar banded lemming, Dicrostonyx torquatus, which turns See also:- WHITE
- WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
- WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
- WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
- WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
- WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
- WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
- WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
- WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
- WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
- WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
- WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)
white in winter, represents a second genus taking its name from the See also:double claws on one of the toes of the forefeet.
For habits of lemmings, see R. Collett, Myodes lemmus, its habits and migrations in Norway (See also:Christiania Videnskabs-Selskabs Forhandlinger, 1895). (W. H. F.; R.
End of Article: LEMMING
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