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Previous Volume 341:213-214 July 15, 1999 Number 3 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: The process of hibernation, the "winter sleep of warm-blooded animals," is a physiologic mechanism of self-protection that remains little understood. Webster's New World Dictionary defines hibernate as "to pass the winter in a torpid state."¹ The Oxford English Dictionary describes hibernation as "the action of wintering, or passing the winter" or "the dormant condition into which many animals and plants pass when the temperature falls below certain limits."² It also describes the figurative use of the word as "any condition or period of dormancy or suspended activity." These definitions refer to normal states.

The initiation of hibernation . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Russell, B. J. (2002). Health-Care Rationing: Critical Features, Ordinary Language, and Meaning. J Law Med Ethics 30: 82-87