THE BEAR. 141 



thick and short, covered with long hair, black at the ends, but 

 grey underneath. Its tail is long and bushy, and marked with 

 alternate rings of black and white : its skin is the most valuable 

 part of this animal, and is reckoned next to the beaver for the 

 manufacture of hats. 



THE BADGER 



Is a very inoffensive animal ; and although Nature has fur- 

 nished it with offensive weapons of the most formidable kind, it 

 never uses them but for the purposes of defence. When attacked, 

 however, it employs all its powers of resistance, and defends it- 

 self with the most desperate obstinacy. 



The badger is about two feet and a half long, from the head 

 to the insertion of the tail : it is of a dirty grey colour ; the legs, 

 which are black, are very thick, strong, and short : it has five 

 toes on each foot ; those on the fore-feet are armed with sharp 

 claws, well adapted for digging its subterraneous habitations. It 

 is a very cleanly creature, and never defiles its hole with ordure. 

 Its different parts are converted to various uses. Its flesh, al- 

 though not delicious, is not an unwholesome, nor even a very 

 unpalatable food ; and the hind-quarters, especially when made 

 into hams, and well cured, are by some esteemed not inferior to 

 bacon. Its skin, however, is the most useful part, as it is made 

 into coarse furs, collars for dogs, horse trappings, and divers 

 other articles. Its hair is also used for making painters' brushes, 

 so that the different parts of this little animal are convertible to 

 a variety of purposes, and serve to show the comprehensive plan 

 and beneficial designs of the Author of Nature. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

 THE BEAR. 



" There through the piny forest half absorpt, 

 Rough tenant of the shades, the shapeless bear, 

 With dangling ice all horrid, stalks forlorn : 

 Slow pac'd, and sourer as the storms increase, 

 He makes his bed beneath th' inclement drift ; 

 And with stern patience, scorning weak complaint, 

 Hardens his heart against assailing want." THOMSON. 



WE shall, in this chapter, describe a surly and formidable race 

 of animals, which, however arranged by systematic writers, evi- 

 dently constitute a distinct species, being distinguished both Vy 



