THE BEAR FAMILY. 311 



direst immorality. If men were unable to form any conception of a future state, and were 

 forced to continue in the present phase of existence to all eternity, they would naturally turn 

 their endeavors to collecting as much as possible of the things which afford sensual pleasure, 

 and each would lead an individual and selfish life, with no future for which to hope, and no 

 aim to which to aspire. 



The popular error respecting the destructive principle is, that it is supposed to be identical 

 with annihilation, than which notion nothing can be more false in itself, or more libellous to 

 the Supreme Creator of all things. Death is to every man a terror, an abasement, or an exalta- 

 tion, as the case may be ; but, in truth, to those who are capable of grasping this most beauti- 

 ful subject, destruction is shown as transmutation, and death becomes birth. Nothing that is 

 once brought into existence can ever be annihilated, for the simple reason that it is an emana- 

 tion of the Deity, who is life itself, essential, eternal, and universal. The form is constantly 

 liable to mutation, but the substance always remains. 



In every pebble that lies unheeded on the ground are pent sundry gaseous substances, 

 which only await the delivering hand of the analyzer to be liberated and expanded ; possessing 

 in their free and etherealized existence many powers and properties which they were debarred 

 from exercising while imprisoned in their condensed and materialized form. To the ordi- 

 nary observer, the stone thus transmuted in its form appears to be destroyed, but its appa- 

 rent death is in reality the beginning of a new life, with extended powers and more ethereal 

 substance. Thus it is that physical death acts upon mankind, and in that light is it regarded 

 by the true and brave spirit, with whom to live is toil, and death is a new birth into life, of 

 which he is conscious even here. Death is to such minds the greatest boon that could be 

 conferred upon them, for just as the destruction or death of the pebble etherealizes and expands 

 the elements of its being, so by the death or destruction of the body, the spirit is liberated 

 from its material prison, and humanity is divinized through death. 



THE BEAR FAMILY. 



BEARS. 



THE BEARS and their allies form a family which is small in point of numbers, but is a 

 very conspicuous one on account of the large size of the greater number of its members, and 

 the curious habits of the entire family of the Ursidse, as these creatures are learnedly named, 

 from the Latin word ursus, whick signifies a Bear. 



These animals are found in almost every portion of the earth's surface, and are fitted by 

 nature to inhabit the hottest and the coldest parts of the world. . India, Borneo, and other 

 burning lands are the homes of sundry members of this family, such as the Bruang and the 

 Aswail, while the snowy regions of Northern Europe and the icebound coasts of the Arctic 

 Ocean are inhabited by the Brown Bear and the Nennook or Polar Bear. The diet of the 

 Ursidse is of a mixed character, and the creatures appear to be capable of sustaining existence 

 upon a purely animal or purely vegetable diet, or to be carnivorous or vegetarian at will. 

 Indeed, it is found that when Bears are kept in captivity, they may be restricted to vegetable 

 food with the best result, both to themselves and their owners. With a few rare exceptions, 

 the bears are singularly harmless animals when undisturbed, contenting themselves with fruit, 

 honey, nuts, snails, roots, and other similar articles of diet, and rarely attacking the higher 

 animals, except when driven by necessity. 



In their gait the Bears are all plantigrade, and on account of the large surface which is 

 placed on the ground when they walk, they are capable of erecting themselves on their hinder 

 limbs, and of supporting themselves in an erect position with the greatest ease. When 

 attacked in close combat, they have a habit of rearing themselves upon their hinder feet, and 



