THE 



ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



The POLAR BEAR. (Ursus maritimus, Pallas.) 



1 HE quadrupeds whose extremities are terminated by claws, 

 and whose jaws are armed with the three kinds of teeth, viz. 

 molares, laniarii, and incisor es, — or grinders, lacerators, and 

 cutters, — are for the most part driven by an innate ferocity of 

 disposition to prey upon and destroy those animals which 

 these natural weapons enable them to overcome. 



The carnivorous propensity, however, exists among them 

 in different degrees. In some of the genera it can only be 

 satiated with blood, and is active as long as any prey can be 

 procured: but these wholesale destroyers are happily the 

 smallest and weakest of the order Ferce. The larger and 

 more formidable species again, as those of the Feline tribe, are 

 limited in their geographical range, rarely extending beyond 

 the tropics ; they also devour the whole of their prey except 

 the bones, and their hunger is accordingly satisfied with fewer 

 victims than that of the insatiable weasel-tribe. At length 

 the tendency to destroy ceases to be a prominent feature; and 

 this we find to be the widely distributed genus to which our 

 present subject appertains, which embraces the largest and 

 most indomitable animals of the order. 



Bears have in fact their molar or back teeth so construct- 

 ed as to be better fitted for bruizing and masticating vegetable 

 substances, than for cutting or dividing the raw fibres of an ani- 

 mal's flesh : instead of sloping to an edge, as in the Feline 

 tribe, and sliding upon those of the opposite jaw like the 

 blades of a pair of scissors, these teeth have broad tubercu- 

 lated surfaces, and are opposed crown to crown. According- 

 ly it is observed that by far the greater number of the species 

 derive their sustenance from the vegetable kingdom. 



The general form of the body corresponds to this destine 

 tion, and is better adapted for digging and climbing than for 

 executing those agile movements by which the more carni- 

 vorous tribes capture their living prey. Thus, instead of 

 stealing lightly and softly on the extremities of the >toes, the 

 whole foot in both the fore and hind legs is applied to the 

 ground * ; and as the claws of the bear have no provision for 

 retraction, their gait is frequently accompanied by a disagree- 

 able clatter, very different from the noiseless tread of the cat. 



* The tribe to which the bear belongs is called ' plantigrade.' 

 ZooL Mag. No. 3. f 



