Aestivators In Africa yet more wholesale methods are adopted in
order to arrest growth. Rose bushes are dug up and laid in dark places for a considerable period. Devices for meeting the handicap of hot dry seasons arc not uncommon in the behaviour of certain animals, including both fish and batrachians. They do not hibernate, but aestivate. In the dry regions of Central Australia one sort of frog will aestivate for as long as two years if no rain falls. A small reserve of water contained in a specialized reservoir within the animal's body serves to keep life alive. Similarly fish have been known to survive by burying themselves in the mud against the drying up of the river or pond. With regard to the roses subjected to compulsory aestivation, it seems that a secondary benefit is claimed by some gardeners for the exposure of the roots. The sun cures them of the liability to certain fungus infections induced by excess of moisture over a long period. On this point too information from Eastern gardeners is much desired.
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