B E A ! 



for each individual animal, we shall have ki this single 

 vault the remains of at least 2500 bears, a number which 

 may have been supplied in the space of 1000 years, by a 

 mortality at the rate of two and a half per annum.' 



The remains of Ursus spelaus are not confined, in Ger- 

 many, to the caverns, for, in 1820, the author last quoted 

 mnd in the collection of the monastery of Kremsmin- 

 ter, near Steyer, in Upper Austria, skiills and bones of 

 B species in consolidated beds of gravel, forming a pudding 

 stone, and dug for building near the monastery. Necker 

 i Saussure found them also in the clefts of the rocks con- 

 taining iron ore at Kropp, in Carniola. 



The remains of bears have been detected in the cave at 

 sdale, in that at Paviland, in Kent's hole, Banwell cave 

 &c. in England : and generally in the ossiferous caverns of 

 the south of France. The bones found in the largest pro- 

 portion at the Grotte d Echenoz, on the south of Vesoul by 

 M. Tirana, and examined by Cuvier, were those of Ursits 

 spe/a-us. Bones of bears have been also found in the 

 osseous breccia at Pisa, Nice, &c. 



Ti G T'n ^T Bear -~ Urslf -> spela-us (Blumenbach). 

 1 he skull of this extinct species is considerably raised above 

 the root of the nose, so that the forehead, which presents 

 two convex elevations, is a good deal curved. Its size is 

 ibout one-fifth larger than the largest of those of l\ie Brown 

 Hear (Ursus arctos), or of the Polar bear. 



Ursus arctoideus (Blumenbach). The skull of this ap- 

 proaches nearest to the black bear of America, but it has 

 less vertical elevation, and the muzzle is more elongated 

 is equal in size to that of Ursus spelanu. The remains 

 these two fossil bears are found in the same localities 

 and Cuvier is of opinion, as has been observed, that thcv 

 are only varieties of the same species. 



A third species of cavern bear has been figured by Golc 



us*, under the name of Ursa* priscus, in his work upo 



the environs of Muggendorf, where it was found. Its sku 



smaller, and differs less from the crania of livin- beai 



tlian those of the preceding species. 



Those dentelated canine teeth which were attributed t 

 ears under the name of Ursu Etruscan and Ursus cultrt 



tr J, '"""' Cr ' zet and Jobert ' and otnen . an <l to cat 

 ) by Bravard, belong, according to Kaup, neither to 

 bear nor to a cat, and he adds his doubt whether thei 

 elonged to an animal which had the least affinity either t 

 the one or the other. 



He has formed a new genus for their reception, under the 

 name of Machatrodus, and adds that these canine teeth and 

 even the dentelations on their concave edge, have a perfec 

 resemblance to the teeth of the Megalosaurus. PSee MA- 



CHAIRODUS.] 



B E A 



We ought not, perhaps, to conclude this article without 

 lernng to those hybrids which were supposed to be the 

 offspring engendered between a dog and a bear. Even, at 

 the present day there is an inclination to believe in the cx- 

 tence of such animals ; nay, it is said that there is a crea- 

 e now in England to which such a parentage has been 

 ributed. We need hardly observe that it is extremely 

 robable, to use no stronger term, that two animals dif- 

 fering so widely in their dentition and general structure, 

 i the periods of gestation and in their habits, should pro- 

 e a mule; and yet whoever reads the following circura- 

 tantial account will, we think, come to the conclusion that 

 e animal described and figured i.y the author was actually 

 een by him. In the ' Histoires Prodigieuses cxtraictes de 

 usieurs fameux autheurs, Grecs et Latins, sacrez et pro- 

 phanes, divisi'es en cinq Tomes, Le Premier par P. Boais- 

 tuau, Tome Premier, Paris, 1582,' is the description and 

 ftgurc which, by the kindness of a friend, who possesses 

 this curious book, we are enabled to lay before our readers. 

 ' Histoire Prodigieuse d'un chien Monstrueux, engendrr 

 d'un Ours, et d'une dogue d'Angleterre, observe par 1'au- 

 theur a Londres, avcc plusieurs autres discours memorablea, 

 tur le naturel de cest animal. 



CHAPITRE XXX. 



' Par-ce ilecteur) que ce fut en Angleterre, en la fameuse 

 fits' de Lodres, que i'observay premier le naturel et la figure 

 de cest animal, lequel tu vois icy depeinct, i'ay bien voulu 

 avant qu'en fairc plus ample description (pour n'estre ac- 

 cuse d'ingratitude) celebrer la memoire de ceux desquelz 

 'ay receu quelque faveur.' The author then mentions 'la 

 maieste de la Royne Elizabeth/ of whom he states that he 



had a most gracious audience, speaks with gratitude of the 

 ivours winch he received from Mosieiir I 1 Admiral d'An^le- 

 terre Mosieur Sicile (Cecil), premier secretaire de la Royne 

 and de M5sieur le Cote d'Arfort (Hertford) : records the 

 liberality of ' Monseigneur le Cote de Candalle, de Mon- 

 seigneur le Marquis de Trans, & de Monseigneur le Marquis 

 He IMesle, qui estoient pour lors en ostage en Angleterre ' 

 and thus returns to his hybrid : Mais nun que nos 

 eprenons les erres de nostre matiere, cest animal mon- 

 streueux, que tu vois figure au cCmencement de ce chapitre 

 it engendrc d une Dogue d'Angleterre & d'un Ours de 

 orte qu'il participe de 1'une & de 1'autre nature : ce qui ne 

 semblera estrange a ceux qui out observe a Londres, come 

 les dogues & les ours sont logez en de peiits cachets, les uns 

 aupres des aulres : & quand ilz sont en leur chaleurs, ceux 

 "ui sont deputez pour les gouverner, enferment une oursa 

 ~ une Dogue cnsemhle, de sorte que pressez de lieurs 

 lureurs naturelles, ilz convertissent leur cruaute en amour, 

 &c de telles coniunctions, naissent quelquefois des animaux 

 seblables a cestuy, encore que soil bien raremet : entre 

 lesquelz i'en ay observe deux, quon avoit donne a Mon- 

 seigneur le Marquis de Trans : 1'un duquel il fist present a 

 Monsieur le conte d'Alphestan, ambassadeur de 1'Empereur: 

 1 autre qu'il a faict amener en Friice, sur lequel i'ay fait 

 retirer cestuy au naturel, sas que le peintre y ait rien 

 obmis*.' 



The author then goes on to cite instances of hybrids 

 among quadrupeds, and thus continues : ' Mais afin de re- 

 tourner i la descriptio de nostre animal, duquel tu vois la 

 figure si mostrueuse, qui ressemble a un ours racoursy aussi 

 avoit les gestes, le rauglemct, & toutes ses autres facons de 

 faire plus aprochantes de Tours que du chic, mais ie te puis 

 asseurer que c'est 1'une des pis furieuses bestes que Ton 

 puisse regarder: car il n'y a espece d'animal auquel il ne 

 s^attache, soil Ours, Lyon, Taureau & autres semblables : & 

 si est si ardent en ses combatz, que depuis qu'il a mis la 

 lent sur quelque beste, il se feroit plustost demembrer que 

 laisser prise, come i'ay veu par experience a Londres quand 

 on Ie fist combatre centre Tours.' M. Boaistuau then 

 alludes to the story of the hybrid engendered between a 

 tiger and a bitch presented to Alexander the Great in India, 

 and refers to A'lian, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Plutarch, 

 and others. 



The author of this description, is the Pierre Boaistuau, ou 



3oistuau, dit Launay, the subject of the following eulogy by 



^acroix du Maine : ' Boaistuau a etc homme ties docte et 



des plus eloquens orateurs de son siccle, ct lequel avoit 



une fa$on de parler autant douce, coulaute, et agrdable 



[u'autre duquel j'aye lu les ecrits.' He is also said to have 



)een one of the first writers who recommended mothers to 



uckle their children. 



The probability is, that he was deceived by the English 



lear-wards and dog-fighters of Elizabeth's time, and that 



ome dog, selected for its bear-like appearance in certain 



points, an appearance aided by cropping the ears and tail, 



xnd other skilful artifices, was palmed upon him and upon 



thers as a hybrid" engendered between a dog and a bear 



BEARBERRY. [See ARCTOSTA'PHYLOS.] 



BEAR LAKE. The great sheet of water to which the 



ame of the Great Bear Lake has been given is situated in 



he north-west part of North America, near the arctic circle. 



ts shape is very irregular, the entire lake being formed by 



ve arms or bays whicljjiave a common centre. The great- 



st diameter of the lake is in a direction north-east from 



La mere qiii le portal esloit cliienue, & le Masle qui la couvrit esloil 



lira. 



