THE POLAR BEAU. 



Mow the surface, twims in the intended direction, until ii is f t.e<l to return to i 



order to breathe. As soon tut it ha* iill.-d its lungs with fresh air, it again submerges itaelf, 



and resumes ita course, timing ito submarine journeys so well, tlutt when it ascend* to the 



- .:: lini'- it i- in .-lone proximity t<> the siumU-ritig seal. 'II. '' the 



victim is now settled, for it cannot tuke refuge in tli.- water without fallinc into 

 the clutches of its pursuer, and if it endeavors u> <-s, aj,e by land it is speedily overtaken and 

 destroy*"! l>y tin- swift footed Bear. 



ndiiraiu-e <-f the Bear while .n^t_.-l in shimming is very great, for it has been Man 

 swimming '--adily across a stniit of some forty mile* in width. Kven the large and powerful 

 walrus is said to fall a vj.-rim t.. the sujierior prowess of the Polar Bear. Although its 

 :i|'l-'tite is of so decided I \ rarnitonnis a nature in the northern regions, it aasomes a milder 

 charact'-i in -..ntli.-rn dimes, and contents itaelf with vegetable aliment. In England, it lias 

 been fed fr a considerable time on bread alone, of which it 00MBBM ftbovfcdx pounds JMT 



II.-MI. a ii- 1 its fondness for cakes and buns is well known to every fnipi.-m.-r of the Zoological 



I. . ! -'.-.'.-..,.. :-.,. .' ..!:;. I,,.,-, .,.,,) 



Ix-ni.*. Mini is often found engaged in searching for these dainties at some distance from the 

 sea-shore. 



So powerful an animal as the Polar Rear must neoesaarily be rery dangerous when con- 

 d in tli>* light of a foe, and as it is r.ith.-i t.-t.-hy and MTV uncertain in it- t<-iiij-r, it 

 often affords ample sco]>c l.y whirh its j,iiisii.-i>, may t.-M tlu-ir jiniweaB. 8ometim.-> it riinn 

 away as soon as it sees or smells a human l-im:. imt it otln-rs it is extremely malicious, 

 and will attack a man without any aj>|>aiviit r.-:i- ,u. AS is ih.- ,.,-, \\jth nearly all the Bears, 

 it is very tenacious of life, and \.-ii \\li.-n pierced with many wounds will iL'ht in the mont 

 desperate manner. fin|>loying both teetli and daws in tli<- coinliat, and only yielding the 

 struggle with its life. 



The color of the NYnnook's fur is a silvery white, tin^-d with a .slight yellow hue, rither 

 variaMe in ditTen-nt individuals. Even in the s]M>cituens th.it were cotitinul in the Zoological 

 (ianleiis iheiv was a iM-n-eptidle difference in the tint of their fur, the coat of one of them 

 being of a purer white than that of the other. Tin- yellowish tinge which has IN-.-U just 

 mentioned is \.-rv similar to the creamy-yellow hue which ediT'-s the ermine's fur. The feet are 

 armed with st mm: claws of no very great leiiirth. and Imt sli-htly <-urve<l. Their color islilack, 

 so that they form a very bold contract with the white fur that falls over the fe.-t. Kven at a 

 coiisidenlile distance, and by means of its m.-r.- outline, the Iobir Bear may In- distinguished 

 from .v. i\ other member of the Bear triU- by its jwcnliar shape. Tlie n.-ck is. although 

 Miely jMiwerfnl. very long in proiK>rtion t<. the i-.-main.ler of ihe body, and the head is so 

 small and sharp that there is a \ . ry snake-like aspect about that portion of the animal's 

 : nag, 



The shape of the head is rather remarkable, for whereas in the Brown and other Bears the 

 mu/./le is separated from the forehead by a well-marked depression, in the Polar Bear the line 

 from the forehead to the nose is almost continuous. The f. Kit of the Netuiook is of 8urj)ri-iii^ 

 comparative length, for it is equivalent in length to one-sixth of the entire leiiirth of the body, 

 wh.-i-.-as in the Itrown Bear it is but one-tenth of that measurement. The ! of tin- foot is 

 rov.-r.sl with a thick coating of warm fur, which is in all probability intended for the double 

 purjK>s.-of protecting the extremities from the intense cold of the substance which it is formed 

 to traverse, and of enabling the creature to tread firmly on the hard and slippery ice. 



From these and other |-<-nliarities of form it is now acknowledged as a separate spedes 

 of Bear, and even removed into a different genus by many naturalist*, although the earlier 

 writ. -i son this si|l'ji-.-t supposed that it was merely a permanent variety of the Brown Bear, 

 whi.-h had obtained a white coat by constant exposure to the terrible cold of these wintry 

 regions, and whose form had been slightly modified by the ever-repeated habit* of its 

 strange life. 



Although so powerful an animal, and furnished by nature with such dreadful arms of 

 offence, it i-* considered by the experienced Bear-hunters of Norway to be inferior in combat 

 to the common Brown Bear, and is less dreaded by them as an antagonist. 



