592 



THE CARNIVORES 



internally by a larger or smaller bony partition, in the bears (as well as in the fol- 

 lowing families of the raccoons and weasels), this bulla is depressed and flattened, 

 and has no trace of an internal partition ; and its mouth, leading to the external ear, 

 is produced much further outward. There are also other characteristics connected 

 with the skull which help to distinguish the bears and the members of the next two 

 families from the Carnivores hitherto described, but the bulla alone is sufficient to 

 determine at a glance to which of the two groups any given skull may belong, and 

 the reader will accordingly perceive how important is this apparently insignificant 

 feature. The degree of inflation of the bulla of the skull is doubtless associated with 

 the acuteness of hearing ; the Carnivores with the longest ears, like the African fen- 

 nee, having larger bullae than their nearest relatives. Bears are notoriously defi- 

 cient in the sense of hearing ; and it is probable that raccoons and weasels are also 



SKELETON OE BEAR. 



less acute in this respect than cats, civets, and dogs. Although many of the Carni- 

 vores with inflated bullae have, like the cats, comparatively small ears, it is note- 

 worthy that no bear, raccoon or weasel has these organs of very large dimensions, 

 while in some instances they are almost absent. 



The members of the bear family are characterized by their heavy and massive 

 build, their thick limbs, extremely short tails, and the presence of five toes, armed 

 with powerful claws, on both the fore and hind-feet. Moreover, when walking, the 

 whole sole of the foot is applied to the ground, in the old-fashioned plantigrade man- 

 ner, so that the impression of a bear's foot presents a considerable superficial resem- 

 blance to that of a man. The claws of the feet are incapable of being retracted, and 

 are well adapted for digging, although no members of the family are in the habit of 

 constructing burrows for themselves after the manner of foxes. In most bears the 



