Toad in the mud

"In 1932, Emma Mae Brown -- a young, pregnant Southern black woman -- thought she was signing up for some quick cash. The task seemed simple : Go to sleep for a couple weeks as part of a government-funded research project. It was all part of a secret contingency plan designed to keep key Americans alive for an indefinit period of time without undue hardship on the body -- like frogs hibernating in the mud during long drought periods." P. [4] of cover.