HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



15 



set formulas to propitiate them ; the Vogulitza, when 

 they have killed a bear, use their best casuistry to 

 convince it that the iron of the Russians is alone 

 guilty of the murderous deed ; the Yakuts praise the 

 bravery and generosity of their "beloved uncle" in 

 prose and verse, bowing reverently towards his 

 favourite haunts ; and the Samoyedes, though they 

 kill and eat the polar bear, have at least equal vene- 

 ration for it, and swear even by its throat. The god 

 Tezcatlipuk, to whom the Mexicans used to offer the 

 burning hearts of sacrificed men, was represented 

 with the face of a bear. 



Amongst the Scandinavians, if the bear was never 

 worshipped, we have proof that he was formerly held 

 in honour and superstitious regard. Bjorn (bear) is 

 a frequent surname in Scandinavia, and according to 

 the old sagas, was assumed by Odin himself once 

 when he visited the earth. It is a common saying 

 among the peasants of Sweden and Norway, that the 

 bear has the wit of two men and the strength of 

 twelve ; and in those countries, as in Finland and 

 other parts, if the flocks and herds are not to suffer, 

 he must never be spoken of by his proper name, but 

 addressed by some friendly or respectful title, such 

 as "Gaff'er," "Grandfather," "Golden-paw," or 

 "Twelve-men-strong." Different provinces have 

 their special by-names for the bear; but "Nalle" 

 in Sweden, and " Bamsen " in Norway, like our 

 "Bruin," are terms in general use. "Bingsen" is 

 the feminine of ' ' Bamsen." 



Of the reputed wit or wisdom of the bear, with 

 other traits of his daily life and conversation, we find 

 marvellous accounts in Pontoppidan's " Natural His- 

 tory of Norway," published in 1 752. Yet the author, 

 Bishop of Bergen, informs us that he has exercised 

 great caution, and from the extensive mass of infor- 

 mation, collected especially during the visitations 

 of his wide and wild diocese, has related facts only 

 that are credible, being supported by the concurrent 

 testimony of numerous informants. Nevertheless, 

 many of his statements will be acceptable as curi- 

 osities of folklore merely, and not as contributions 

 to the natural history of the bear. 



Dame Bingsen, we learn from the bishop, carries 

 her young but one month, and when the two or three 

 little Bingsens and Bamsens come forth, during 

 January, into a cold world, they are (as stated also by 

 Pliny) naked, blind, small as mice, and shapeless as 

 clumps. 'But the mother, by continual licking, de- 

 velops them into form. Yet they never, it may be 

 observed, for all her plastic art, exhibit any remark- 

 able growth in grace. It is only when rearing their 

 cubs that bears, if not molested, are usually dangerous 

 to man ; but let women, when in an interesting 

 condition, at all times beware of them ; for the bear, 

 according to our author, either instinctively or by 

 scent, knows their state, and becomes quite ravenous 

 to secure the precious burden they are blessed with — 

 especially if it happens to be a boy. A clergyman's 1 



wife assured the bishop that she was once besieged 

 in her bedroom by a bear thus incited, and would 

 have been torn to pieces except for the timely arrival 

 of her husband, just as the voracious creature, which 

 had failed to leap in at the window, was roaring, 

 ramping, and tearing most furiously at the door. 

 This remarkable propensity of Bruin serves, however, 

 one good purpose ; constituting him, as the bishop 

 remarks, a kind of rural police, a guardian of virtue 

 among the herd-girls who tend the cattle during 

 summer amid the forests and mountains which are 

 his accustomed resorts. 



He has even been known, it is said, to take upon 

 himself the care of the herds; as at Bordne, in 

 Rogsund, where "an old grass-bear for many years 

 regularly attended the herd like its watcher, and 

 often stood quietly by when the girls were milking ; 

 always drove the wolf away, and only in autumn, 

 shortly before retiring to his winter retreat, took a 

 goat or a sheep as tacitly-accorded payment for his 

 summer's work." The bishop reasonably surmises 

 that not many bears so laudably discreet were to be 

 found, but adds, as a reported certainty, that the 

 forest monarch will levy only one contribution on- 

 each man wh(5^e flocks and herds are located within 

 the limits of his own proper domain. 



Of the numerous asserted proofs of the bear's 

 discernment and circumspection none appear to the 

 bishop more savoured with thoughtful deliberation 

 than the selecting from a whole herd of cows that 

 which bears the bell, and thus by her running gives 

 warning to the rest. This bell, it is said, excites his 

 utmost wrath and indignation. He tears it off, casts 

 it to the ground, and, if malleable, batters it quite 

 flat with his paws, so that the detested sound may 

 never again tingle in his ears. If the bear chances 

 to take a hunter by surprise, this surprising animal 

 instantly seizes and fires off his gun ; and when 

 assailed by a party of two or three hunters, if the 

 foremost of them misses fire, or only slightly wounds 

 him, he instantly grasps the defenceless man in his 

 paws, and retreats backwards on his hind legs, hold- 

 ing the man before him as a shield. Eventually he 

 flings his prisoner down a steep bank, and leaves 

 him living or dead. But sometimes both bear and 

 hunter fall dead in mutual embrace. When mortally 

 wounded, knowing that the hunter is covetous of 

 his skin, he strives to disappoint him by seizing a 

 heavy stone and sinking himself in deep v/ater if 

 such happens to be within reach. When hard pressed 

 by the hunters, he will set his back against a tree, 

 and throw stones at the little dogs with wliich they 

 seek to distract his attention while they take aim. 

 If fatigued in crossing a lake or fjord, he will some- 

 times, at the risk of having his forepaws chopped off, 

 attempt to get into a boat ; and, if permitted, will 

 sit quietly and timorously down. 



( To he continued.) 



