146 BULLETIN NO. VII. 



For details concerning the anatomy the reader is referred to 

 the description of the black bear beyond. Great variations are 

 found in different individuals of the same species. 



Ursus americanus PALLAS. 



THE BLACK BEAR. 



The black bear is still quite common in Minnesota; every 

 year a number are exposed in the markets of Minneapolis. So 

 far as observed these are nearly all of the normal black variety. 



Mr. Allen remarks: "Contrary to what was formerly sup 

 posed, bears everywhere appear to be among the most variable 

 of mammiferous animals, not only in coloration, but in size, 

 proportions, and in the conformation of the skull and other parts 

 of the skeleton. Those familiar with them say it is rare to find 

 any two alike. I am informed by my friend Mr. C. W. Bennett 

 that he has known two cubs of the same litter, taken in one of 

 the western states, that as they grew up, differed very mater- 

 ially, from each other in color, one being black and the other 

 brown. They differed widely also in form and disposition, one 

 being docile and playful, while the other was ferocious and 

 dangerous. The leading varieties in color of the American and 

 European bears, as the brown and black bears, are now gener- 

 ally deemed to be but varieties and ' not species. The bears 

 have ever been a perplexing group, and accordingly the opin- 

 ions advanced by different authors respecting the number of 

 species vary widely. Several high authorities consider the 

 land bears of northern North America, northern Asia and Europe 

 as forming but one, or at most two, species, among which (au- 

 thorities) are Blainville and Middendorff, the latter of whom, 

 with access to a large amount of material, has especially and 

 most minutely investigated the subject. 



Dr. Gray recognizes eight with numerous varieties and sub- 

 varieties of each. 



There is a strong tendency among naturalists to consider old 

 world bears as all distinct from those of North America, and at 

 least to recognize two species of the latter the grizzly bear of 

 the west and the continentally dispersed black and brown bears. 

 Prof. Baird gives the probable number as five, four of which 

 he seems to consider well founded. But each of the recognized 

 species presents so many varieties, which to a greater or less 

 extent intergrade, that well-marked lines of distinction cannot 

 at present be drawn." 



