274 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



taken alive. About 2 feet of snow had been drifted over 

 the hole. 



This newly-born cub was reared by us in the house. Its 

 dimensions were, — 



Length. — 26 inches to tip of tail. 



Girth. — Chest, 16J inches; abdomen, 19J inches. 



Head. — Length, 7 inches; circumference, 13 inches; 

 breadth between ears, 4J inches; length of nose, 

 1\ inch ; width between eyes, 2 inches. 



Foreleg. — 10 J- inches long. 



Hind Foot. — 4^ inches long. 



Weight.— VI lbs. 



Dentition. — Upper and lower canines well through gum ; 

 lateral upper incisors through gum; middle, upper, 

 and all lower incisors still uncut and below the gum ; 

 six days afterwards four lateral incisors of upper jaw, 

 two lateral lower incisors ; first molars of both jaws 

 were through the gums besides the canines. 



The cubs shot on 15th January weighed 234 lbs., and 

 were probably one year old or more. Their dentition was, — 

 Temporary lateral incisors just on point of being shed, but 

 not loose ; tips of permanent teeth showing alongside ; milk 

 canines quite small, but not loose ; tips of permanent canines 

 showing through gums. 



The dentition of the adult bear is i. f , c. \, p.m. f or -|, M. f . 



Most of the premolars are very small ; sometimes the third 

 upper premolar may only occur on one side. The bears in 

 which this extra tooth is found are not necessarily the larger 

 specimens. Those bears also that did not show them had 

 not a trace of them under the gum. The teeth in old bears 

 are much worn and blunt. 



The Polar Bear has an extraordinary tenacity of life. It 

 seems to suffer very little shock, even after being desperately 

 wounded. The young cub shows similar tenacity of life. 

 We kept three in the house in a warm atmosphere, with very 

 little exercise, fed on sweet condensed milk, bear, walrus, and 

 other meat (cooked or raw), biscuit, in fact anything, and 

 yet they throve. The youngest was once nearly dead with 



