252 COLOUR. 



however, that only one kind of bear, the Ursus Arctos, 

 Linn., exists in the northern peninsula ; and that the diffe- 

 rences are solely attributable to locality, age, or other causes. 



On the same authority it was farther stated, that black 

 bears were now and then found in Scandinavia, not as a 

 species, but that very old bears occasionally attained to that 

 colour. This I apprehend to be incorrect. It is singular, 

 nevertheless, how much bears vary in colour, especially the 

 cubs, and this often in the same litter ; amongst which, 

 indeed, it is not unusual to find one of the number brown, 

 a second with a white ring about its neck, whilst the third 

 may perhaps be as grey as a badger. 



But whether there be one or two kinds of bear, or 

 whether occasionally black or not, their habits as beasts of 

 chase are the same ; and I shall not therefore enter into the 

 discussion, but leave the learned in these matters to settle 

 the points in question amongst themselves. 



Formerly, when Scandinavia was more thinly populated 

 than, at present, and when the whole face of the country was 

 covered with dense forests, the bear was to be met with 

 everywhere ; but at the present day, owing to so much ground 

 having been brought into cultivation, he is nearly altogether 

 confined to the more northern parts of the peninsula say 

 from about the 58 of north latitude, to the immediate 

 vicinity of the North Cape itself. And though, from the 

 constant attacks of man, and the inroads made in the forests, 

 bears are not so plentiful as formerly, yet within the limits 

 of the vast range of country mentioned, they are still pretty 

 common. 



The bear, however, like man, would seem to degenerate in 

 the higher latitudes ; for, by all accounts, the Lapland bear 



