836 



BEAR. 



the bears of warm countries, but they have the hair 

 shorter and more glossy, and some markings of 

 brighter colour, especially about the head. It will, 

 however, require much observation before the grada- 

 tions of the species can be distinctly traced, and the 

 causes by which they are produced clearly seen. It 

 is certain, however, that one species of bear inhabits 

 round the whole globe in the arctic regions, and is 

 the northernmost of the genus ; and that as the lati- 

 tude lessens, the bears of both continents vary in their 

 characters from those common to the two, and each 

 series also assumes distinctive characters of its own. 



6. THE SPECTACLED BEAR ( Ursus ornatus). This is 

 the tropical bear of the American continent ; and it 

 has received the specific appellation of ornatus, or 

 ornamented, from the markings on its head, especially 

 those round the eyes. These are circles of bright 

 brownish yellow, which encompass the eyes and are 

 generally united by a small arch on the lower part of 

 the forehead, which gives them very much the shape of 

 a pair of spectacles. It does not appear, however, 

 that these markings are constant ; for, of two speci- 

 mens at the gardens of the Zoological Society, one 

 has the spectacles quite perfect round both eyes, but 

 in the other one eye only has the mark round it. 

 This shows, by the way, that the peculiar markings of 

 colour which may be said to distinguish the bears 

 of warm countries from those of cold and temperate 

 ones, are not invariable in the species, and cannot, on 

 that account, be received as specific characters. 



This species is found in the Andes ; and though 

 it has not been traced all the way, and is not indeed 

 abundant or very frequently seen, it appears to take 

 up the mountain range where the locality of the 

 grisly bear ends. Its history is very imperfect ; but 

 it appears to be much more exclusively vegetable in 

 its feeding than the bears of the north ; indeed, in 

 all longitudes boars seem to get milder in character as 

 they inhabit nearer the tropics ; and while the polar 

 bear, and those bears which inhabit the plains on the 

 shores of the polar seas, are to a great extent carni- 

 vorous, or at least feeders upon animal matter, as we 

 proceed southward we find them more mild in their 

 characters, and less given to consume animal food. 

 They are also smaller in size, feebler in their struc- 

 ture, and thoir covering is less shaggy. Even they, 

 the most tropical of them, are not handsome animals ; 

 but they are certainly not so ragged and formless as 

 the bears of the north. All this tends to prove what 

 we have already assumed,- namely, that the whole 

 genus are naturally and properly polar animals ; and 

 that the influence of improved climate produces an 

 effect on their peculiar characters. The reverse is the 

 case with the carnivorous animals, properly so called; 

 so that there seems to be a little inconsistency in class- 

 ing them together in the same order. The proper 

 function of the carnivorous animal is to restrain the 

 exuberance of living creatures ; and it is with great 

 difficulty that they can subsist upon vegetable matter. 

 The bears upon the other hand, seldom kill ; and 

 those of tropical countries subsist chiefly upon vege- 

 tables. This in a great measure accounts for their 

 greater mildness of character there than in those parts 

 of the world where necessity compels them to be more 

 predatory. 



The annexed figure will give a general idea of the 

 form of this bear, which perhaps approximates more 

 nearly to some of the varieties of the black bear than 

 to any other of the American species. The chief 



difference is in the peculiar marking on the face of 

 this one ; and it has been mentioned that many of the 

 black bears have the rudiments of this marking, in the 

 brownish-yellow spots over the eye?, and in this spe- 

 cies the circles, as has been said, are sometimes want- 

 j. This one is, however, only a recent addition to 

 natural history, and its manners, and the extent to 

 which it inhabits the Andes, are but imperfectly 

 known. No mention is made of it as found in the 

 mountains of Patagonia, or even in Chili ; neither 

 has it been met with on the mountains of Brazil, or 

 in any other of the detached rirlges which are inferior 

 to the Andes in height. As is the case with the bears 

 of all tropical countries, its fur is short, and, conse- 

 quently, its skin is not so much furzed as that of the 

 northern bears. There is also reason to suppose that 

 it does not accumulate fat to nearly the same extent; 

 and that, taking it altogether, it is a much less impor- 

 tant animal, both in the natural history of its locality 

 and in the domestic economy of the people. 



Spectacled Bear. 



Either there are different species of bears in the 

 Andes, or the one species is subject to considerable 

 variations, at least in colour and in size. Sir R. K. 

 Porter, in a letter to the secretary of the Zoological 

 Society, dated Caracas, Aug. 14th, 1833, mentions 

 one then living in that city, which differs in the mark- 

 ings on the face from any of the individuals which 

 had been previously examined or described by 

 Europeans. The yellowish-white of its face begins 

 on the bridge of the nose, between the eyes, and 

 describes under each eye a semicircle, whence it 

 extends over the whole muzzle, taking rather a grey- 

 ish hue until it ends in pure white, covering the whole 

 throat and chest, and forming a point between the 

 fore legs. The rest of the animal is jet-black, the 

 hair being silky and shining. It is smaller by far in 

 size than the bears of the northern countries of Europe, 

 and is more compact in form. 



The account of this specimen, with the variations 

 that have been seen in others of the few which have 

 been examined, show that it is necessary to observe 

 much caution before any positive conclusions are 

 come to with regard to the specific arrangement of 

 the bears of warm climates. Even in the temperate 

 and the cold latitudes, bears are very sensitive to 

 variations of situation and climate, even when these 



