CARNARIA. 81 



U. americanus, Gm. ; Fr. Cuv. Mammif. ; Schreb. pi. 141, B. 

 (The North American Black Bear). A very distinct species, with a 

 flat forehead, smooth and black fur, and fawn-coloured muzzle. We 

 have always found the small teeth behind the canines more numerous 

 in this bear, than in the European species. Individuals have been 

 seen that were entirely fawn-coloured. Its usual food is wild fruits ; 

 it devastates the fields, and, where fish is abundant, proceeds to 

 the shores for the purpose of catching it. It is only for want of 

 other aliment that it attacks quadrupeds. The flesh is held in great 

 esteem. There is another Black Bear found in the Cordilleras, with 

 a white throat and muzzle, and large fawn-coloured eyebrows, that 

 unite on the forehead — U. ornatus, Fr. Cuv. Mammif. 

 The East Indies also produce several bears of a black colour, such 

 as the 



U. malaianus, Horsf. Java. (The Malay Bear). From the Pe- 

 ninsula beyond the Ganges and the islands of the Straits of Sunda. 

 Smooth; black; fawn-coloured muzzle ; a heart-shaped spot of the 

 same colour on the breast. It is very injurious to the cocoa nut 

 trees, which it climbs in order to devour their tops and drink the 

 milk of the fruit. 



U. thibetanus, Fr. Cuv. Mammif. (The Thibet Bear). Black ; 

 the under lip and a large mark in the form of a Y in white on the 

 breast ; profile straighter and claws weaker. From the mountains 

 in the north of India. 



But the most remarkable of these Bears of India is the 



U, labiatus, Blain.; L' Oars jongleur, Fred. Cuv. Mammif.; U. 

 lomjirostris, Tied. (The Thick-lipped Bear). The cartilage of 

 the nose dilated; the tip of the under lip elongated, both being 

 moveable ; when old, very thick bushy hairs round the head. The 

 facility with which the incisors are lost, occasioned it for a long time 

 to be considered as a Sloth*. It is black; the muzzle and tips of 

 the paws fawn-coloured or whitish, and a half collar or spot in the 

 form of a Y under the neck and breast. This animal is a favourite 

 with the Indian jugglers, which they lead about on account of its 

 deformity. 



U. maritimus, L. ; Cuv. Menag. du Mus., 8vo., p. G8; copied, 

 Schreb. pi. clxi. (The Polar Bear). This is another species, very 

 distinguisl^able by its long and flattened head and its white and 



ing excepted, it closely resembles the Brown Bear; its nails, however, are much 

 longer and more trenchant. It appears to be a distinct species. 



M. Horstield, Lin. Trans. XV. 332, describes a bear from Nepaul, of a light bay 

 colour, whose nails are less trenchant than those of the other bears of India, and 

 which appears to him a distinct species. 



I have neglected stating in the text that we have recovered many fossil bones of 

 lost species of bears, the most remarkable of which are the U. spelaus, Blunienb., 

 with a rounded forehead, and of a very large size; and the U. cuUridens, Cuv. See 

 the fourth vol. of my " Ossemens Fossiles." 



* It is the Bradypus uisiiius of Shaw, and the genus Prochilus, Illig. See Jour, 

 de Phys. of 1792, vol. xl. p. 136. 



VOL. I. G 



