HARD WICKE'S S C1ENCE- G OS SIP. 



129 



7. E. pilosnni (Bor.). Upper pets, not spotted at 

 the base. Leaves much cut and divided, with long 

 hairs over the whole plant. 



During the past few years, our rambles have chiefly 

 been over gravelly and sandy fields ; these, although 

 in a great measure barren to the farmer, have yielded 



F!g. 113. — Filago 

 canescens (Jord.). 



Fig. 114. — Filago sj>athulata (Presl). 



us a rich harvest ; amongst the rest, the cud-weeds 

 have received a thorough investigation, so that now 

 we number probably fifty sheets in our British her- 

 baria, containing specimens of the Gnaphalia and 

 Filago ; the latter are not so numerous, and vary but 

 little, but we lay before our readers the British section 

 of this genus, because we do not regard F. gallica (L.) 

 as a native species — it is now by all our best botanists 

 looked upon as a colonist only. 



Filago. — Section 1. Procumbent ; section 2. Erect. 



Section 1. — In " Student's Flora," F. germanica 

 (L.) covers all the following forms, viz. : 



1. Filago canescens (Jord.), (species according to con- 

 tinental authorities) leaves linear, tomentose. Heads 

 of flowers leafless, tips of bracts yellow ; common in 

 sandy pastures. Fig. 113. 



2. Filago apiculata (G. E. Sm.), much larger than 

 the last ; bracts purple. Keel-shaped, tips deep 

 pink. Rare. 



3. Filago spathtdata (Presl) (species). A short 

 tufted plant. Leaves spathnlate. Bracts, keel-shaped, 

 tips pale yellow. Frequent on gravelly soils. Fig. 1 14. 



Section 2. — 4. Filago minima (Fries). Leaves 

 J-inch, very small, lanceolate. A small, slender, and 

 erect species, from 6 to 10 inches. Frequent on dry 

 sandy'^banks. 



A Fishing Rat. — While standing by a stream 

 the other day I saw a large grey rat swimming about 

 with unusual activity, and observing its movements 

 for awhile I saw it dive below a bank, reappear and 

 dive again, and so continue for some time ; but at 

 last to my surprise it reappeared with a fine trout in 

 its mouth, four or five inches in length, and struggling 

 in vain for its life, while the rat made quickly for its 

 hole apparently elevated with success. — T. Sim, Fyvie. 



THE BEAR IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



By John Wager. 



Part I. 



THE writer, though not a sportsman, has indulged 

 in many wild and solitary wanderings through 

 Swedish forests and over Norwegian fjelds ; several 

 times he has been benighted amid such scenes, yet 

 never chanced to make personal acquaintance with 

 Bruin in his native resorts, though he frequently heard 

 of his proximity, and once saw the remains of a bear 

 that had been shot by a peasant on the previous day ; 

 he has also collected sundry ursine anecdotes, which 

 naturalists inclined for gossip may be willing to hear. 

 First, however, it will perhaps be well, for the benefit 

 of readers not familiar with the subject, to prefix a brief 

 account, from Scandinavian sources, of the natural 

 history of the northern bear. 



The peasants of Norway and Sweden distinguish 

 several kinds of bears, such as the grass-bear, the 

 ant-bear, and the horse-bear ; but these are mere 

 varieties, or individuals in different stages of develop- 

 ment, of one and the same species. Its colour is 

 dark brown or nearly black ; sometimes lighter, and 

 especially valued when the fur is tipped with silver- 

 grey. A full-grown bear will measure six feet, or 

 even more in length, by three feet in height ; and 

 weigh from five to six, and occasionally eight, hun- 

 dred pounds. Bruin has a sweet tooth in his head, 

 and while young at least, usually contents himself 

 with a vegetable diet ; — grass, roots, the juicy stem 

 and leaves of angelica, whortleberries, cloud-berries, 

 and other berries which abound in the forests, in- 

 cluding those of the rowan tree ; ants, also, and their 

 eggs vary his diet, whence certain bears which habitu- 

 ally eat them are called ant-bears ; and the more 

 delectable honey, with the comb and larva, which he 

 devours with keen zest, quite regardless, in his thick 

 coat, of the infuriated bees. During the very dry, 

 hot summer of 1868, when bruin's favourite feast of 

 whortleberries failed him, he was constrained, said 

 Norwegian papers, to quit his customary solitudes, 

 and betake himself like a sturdy beggar or downright 

 thief, to the vicinage of human dwellings, and there 

 lay violent hands on anything devourable that came 

 in his way; yet without doing bodily harm to man. 

 When, however, the bear gets older, and once gains a 

 taste of flesh, he thenceforth prefers it ; and has 

 doubtless a regal share of the six or seven thousand 

 sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and horned cattle that are 

 annually destroyed by wild beasts in Sweden alone. 

 A bear may remain a considerable time upon a tract 

 without its presence being particularly marked ; but 

 should it chance, either from spontaneous impulse, or 

 outward irritation, once to kill a domestic animal, it 

 is sure, unless prevented, to attack others in quick 

 succession ; lurking in the neighbourhood of the spot 

 where the cattle graze, and watching its opportunity 

 to start from its hiding-place upon any luckless cow 



