THE SPECTACLED BEAR. 327 



forked patch of white on the breast. When it walks, its fore-legs cross 

 each other; its feet are remarkably sensitive, and soon blister. 



This bear is liable to lose its incisor teeth, a peculiarity which led 

 earlier writers to class it among the Edentata, and style it a Sloth. It is 

 called indifferently the Sloth Bear, the Jungle Bear, the Lipped Bear, or 

 the Honey Bear. The Hindoo name is Aswail. It is very sensitive to 

 heat, and remains in its den during the noontide glow ; its diet is chiefly 

 vegetable, the exceptions being honey and oats. Its flesh is in much 

 favor, and is said to be \try good. 



When captured young, it is easily tamed, and can be taught to per- 

 form many curious antics at the bid of its master. For this purpose it is 

 often caught by the native mountebanks, who earn an easy subsistence 

 by leading their shaggy pupil through the country, and demanding small 

 sums of money for the exhibition of its qualities. On account of its asso- 

 ciation with these wandering exhibitors, it has been called by the French 

 naturalists " Ours Jongleur." Whether owing to the natural docility of 

 the animal, or to the superior powers of its instructor, it performs feats 

 which are more curious and remarkable than the ordinary run of per- 

 formances that are achieved by the Learned Bears of our streets. 



v.— GENUS TREMARCTOS. 



The solitary species of this genus is isolated in the Andes of Chili 

 *tj«d Peru, and is commonly known as the Ursus ornatus. 



The Spectacled Bear, Tremarctos ornatus, is black, with the excep- 

 tion of two yellow marks above the eyes ; as these are of a semicircular 

 shape, they suggest the common name. Little is known of its habits in 

 its wild state, and it has not been domesticated. 



One curious detail in the physiology of all the bears is the extraordi- 

 nary smallness of the young at birth, compared with the bulk of the 

 parents, for they are not larger than cats. The mother has, like the cat, 

 the habit of licking her cubs with her tongue to clean them, and she per- 

 forms this highl}^ necessary operation so assiduously that a legend has 

 arisen that " she licks them into shape." 



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