i6o 



THOSE OTHER ANIMALS 



in winter, with hoods of the same over their heads, do 

 present a very striking resemblance to him. The bear was 

 once common in England ; its bones are found plentifully 

 among those of other cave-in- 

 habiting animals, and it was still 

 numerous in the island when the 

 Romans first conquered Britain ; 

 it vanished, however, even before 

 the wolf, and has been nearly 

 exterminated throughout Western 

 Europe. It figured in the Roman 

 arena, where it was probably 

 goaded to a savagery altogether 

 alien to its nature. It may be 

 assumed that it was at one time 

 regarded in the Old World with 

 something of the superstition 

 with which it was held in the 

 New, being the only animal after 

 whom two constellations have 

 been named. Were there three 

 of them > we should possibly be 

 a bl e to arr i ve at a satisfactory 

 explanation of the children's 

 story. It is remarkable that 

 both bears are placed by the 

 ancients in close proximity to 



the pole, probably in delicate allusion to its climbing 

 powers, as to the present day no bear pit is considered 

 complete unless provided with a pole. It is evident that 

 the ancient astronomers were wags, and while apparently 



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