108 The Grizzly Bear, — Ursiis Ferox, 



wounded the bear, and saved Mr. D. from further peril. Neither received 

 any injui-y from this encounter, in which the bear was at length killed. 



" On one occasion several hunters were chased by a gi-izzly bear, who 

 rapidly gained upon them. A boy of the party, Avho could not run so fast 

 as his companions, perceiving the bear very near him, fell with his face 

 towards the gTOund. The bear reared up on his hind-feet, stood for a 

 moment, and then bounded over him in pursuit of the more distant fugitives. 

 " Mr. Dougherty, the hunter before mentioned, relates the following 

 instance of the great muscular strength of the grizzly bear : — Having killed 

 a bison, and left the carcass for the purpose of procuring assistance to skin 

 and cut it up, he was very much surprised on his return to find that it had 

 been dragged oft, whole, to a considerable distance, by a grizzly bear, and 

 was then placed in a pit, v/hich the animal had dug with his claws for its 

 reception. 



" This bear strikes a very violent blow with his fore-paws, and the claws 

 inflict di-eadful wounds. One of the cubs before mentioned as belonging to 

 the Philadelphia Museum, struck the other a blow over part of its back and 

 shoulder, which produced a large wound like a sabre cut. It is stated in 

 Long's Expedition, that a hunter received a blow from the fore-paw of a 

 grizzly bear, which destroyed his eye and crushed his cheek bone. 



" The grizzly bear is unable to climb trees like other bears ; he is much 

 more intimidated by the voice than the aspect of man, and on some occa- 

 sions, when advancing to attack an individual, he has turned and retired 

 merely in consequence of the screams extorted by fear. The degree of fero- 

 city exhi))ited by the grizzly bear appears to be considerably influenced by 

 the plenty or scarcity of food in the region it inhaljits. 



" The following are the dimensions of the specimen preserved in the 

 Philadelphia Museum, as given by Say :— 



Length from the tip of the nose to the origin of the tail, . . 5 ft. 2 in. 



The tail, exclusive of the hair at the tip, ,.,....... 1^^^ 



From the anterior base of the ear to the tip of the nose, 6 



Orbit of the eye, 3^ 



Between the eyes, , 6f 



Ears from their superior base, 3 



Longest claw of the fore-foot, 4:% 



Shortest,. 23^ 



Longest claw of the hind-foot, 3 



Shortest,. .,.,...... 1% 



Hair at the tip of the tail, , , . . 4};^ 



Length of the hair on the top of the head, \% to 2 



Beneath the ears, 2% ^^ ^/2 



On the neck above, 3 



On the shoulders above, 4)^ 



On the throat, 4 



On the bellv and behind the fore legs the longest hairs are. . . 6 



<^ These measurements are taken from two individuals which were by no 



