72 THE POLAR BKAlt. 



public, who speak to them and gwe them dainties. Through 

 the influence of these two means alone these animals have 

 learnt to perform a number of exercises, which they repeat at 

 the simple word of command, and under the sole expectation 

 of being rewarded by a cake or an apple. Thus at the words 

 montf a I'arbre, they climb the trunk of the tree which is 

 placed in their pit. If one says to them fais le bean, they 

 know that they ought to lie down on their back, and bring 

 together their four paws. At the word priez, they sit up 

 erect and join their fore legs. At the word tourne, they 

 pirouette upon their hind legs, &c." — F. Cuvier, Diet, des 

 Sciences Nat. 



It has been observed, that the black bears of America pro- 

 fit less by this sort of public education than their European 

 congeners, and it is remarkable that the form of their head 

 presents a less intellectual character. — The polar bear, to the 

 particular history of which we shall now turn, presents a still 

 less degree of docility and intelligence. 



This species ranks among the larger productions of the ani- 

 mated creation; but it must be observed that in the accounts 

 of the older navigators its size has been greatly exaggerated. 

 Those seen by the naturalists who accompanied Captain Parry 

 in the northern expeditions, did not in general exceed seven or 

 eight feet in length. Captain Lyon has given the dimensions of 

 one which was considered to be unusually large, being 8 feet 

 7i inches long, and weighing 1600ibs. A female, which was 

 attended by two cubs, was killed on the 31 st of August, 1822, 

 and was so small that two or three men were able to lift her 

 into a boat; yet she must have attained the period at which 

 she was capable of propagating her kind on or before the 

 autumn of the preceding year." — Appendix to Parry's Se- 

 cond Voyage, p. 288. 



With the exception of the naked end of the snout, the lips, 

 the margins of the eyelids and the claws, the exterior of the 

 polar bear presents at all seasons of the year an uniform white 

 colour ; a provision which renders its movements less easily 

 distinguishable either by its enemies or its prey in the snowy 

 regions destined for its habitual abode. The parts above 

 mentioned are of a black colour; the lips have a purple tinge; 

 the tongue is black, and the whole inside of the mouth is of 

 a pale violet hue. As the polar bear advances in age it ac- 

 quires a yellowish tint, and the forehead of the old animals 

 is generally devoid of hair, and of a brown colour, a con- 

 setmence of a remarkable habit this species has of rubbing 

 that part of the head with a swinging circular motion against 

 any hard perpendicular surface. 



