218 TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE 



endure either much heat or much cold. The young are 

 born in a very helpless state, and long remain hidden in 

 the nest placed in a hollow tree or in the fissure of some 

 rock. It is a very interesting fact that a creature of this 

 kind lived in England in the latter tertiary times, and 

 thus the present scattered distribution of the racoon 

 family is bridged over by the help of fossil remains, just 

 as is the present scattered distribution of the family of 

 tapirs among the hoofed beasts. 



The racoon tribe has been often supposed to be more 

 nearly allied to the bears than to any other group of 

 flesh-eating beasts, a relationship we much doubt. What- 

 ever may be the value of this supposition, however, the 

 Rev. Pere David discovered in 1869, in the almost in- 

 accessible mountains of Moupin, in Thibet, a creature 

 which, though it has a very short tail, is in some respects 

 like the panda, though in others like a bear. It is said 

 to feed principally on vegetable substances, such as 

 bamboos and the roots of various plants. 



We may now pass on to consider the bear tribe. 

 There are ten kinds of true bears, which range from the 

 Arctic regions southward to Africa, north of the Sahara, 

 the Indian Archipelago, and Chili. No species, however, 

 is common to the Old World and the New. None is 

 found in central and southern Africa, none in Australia, 

 and only one in South America. The bears are animals 

 of considerable size, and among them are found the 

 giants of the carnivorous order. They walk on the 

 naked soles of their feet, have very short tails, mode- 

 rately short, erect ears, small eyes, and fur which is 

 generally long and shaggy, with claws which are long, 

 strong, and non-retractile. The great white or polar 

 bear of the Arctic regions is of the same colour all the 

 year round. It lives on animal food, and very largely on 



