European Brown Bear 89 



of Kashmir, and likewise the Syrian brown bear, as specifically distinct 

 from the typical brown bear of Scandinavia. Others, on the contrary, 

 consider the two former as nothing more than local phases, or races, of 

 the latter ; this view being adopted in the G?\'at and Small Game of 

 India, etc. 



In regard to the question in its widest aspect, the Russian naturalist 

 Middendorif",^ so long ago as the year 1851, came to the conclusion that 

 all the brown and grey bears of the northern half of both hemispheres 

 were nothing more than local varieties of a single widely spread species. 

 The late Dr. Gray, of the British Museum, took, on the other hand, 

 precisely the opposite view, considering that not only were all the brown 

 and grey bears of North America specifically distinct from those of the 

 Old World, but also that there were several different species of the 

 latter. 



Many other writers might be quoted, but it will suffice on the 

 present occasion to refer to a few of comparatively recent date. In the 

 first of these an American writer, Mr. A. E. Brown,'^ came to the 

 conclusion that the black, grizzly, cinnamon, and in fict all the dark 

 North American bears should be regarded as varieties of the European 

 brown bear ; the black bear being, however, more distinct than any of 

 the others. This paper was published in 1894. Two years later the 

 great American zoologist, Dr. C. H. Merriam,® contributed another 

 memoir to the controversy. His conclusion is that the black bears of 

 North America (of which several species are recognised) are perfectly 

 distinct from the brown and grey bears of the same region, and likewise that 

 there are several distinct specific representatives of the latter ; the different 

 types of Old World brown bears being also regarded as entitled to rank 

 as so many distinct species. In 1897 a third contribution to the subject 



1 Sibiruche Reise (1851). - Proceedings Philadelplia Academy^ 1894, p. 119. 



^ Proceedings Biological Society of Washington, vol. x. p. 65 (1896). 



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