436 



THE BEAR. 



CHAPTER LXVI. 



THE BEAR.' 



OF the Bear there aYe three different kinds, 

 the Brown Bear of the Alps, the Black Bear 

 of North America, which is smaller, and the 

 great Greenland or White Bear. These, 

 though different in their forms, are no doubt 

 of the same original, and owe their chief va- 

 riations to food and climate. They have all 

 the same habitudes, being equally carnivorous, 

 treacherous, and cruel. It has been said, in- 

 deed, that the black bear of America rejects 

 animal food ; but of the contrary I am cer- 

 tain, as I have often seen the young ones, 

 which are brought over to London, prefer 

 flesh to every kind of vegetable aliment. 



The BROWN BEAR is properly an inhabitant 

 of the temperate climates ; the black finds sub- 

 sistence in the northern regions of Europe and 

 America ; while the great white bear takes re- 

 fuge in the most icy climates, and lives where 

 scarcely any other animal can find subsistence. 



The brown bear b is not only savage, but so- 

 litary ; he takes refuge in the most unfrequent- 

 ed parts, and the most dangerous precipices of 

 uninhabited mountains. It chooses its den in 

 the most gloomy parts of the forest, in some 

 cavern that has been hollowed by time, or in 

 the hollow of some old enormous tree. There 

 it retires alone, and passes some months of the 

 winter without provisions, or without ever stir- 

 ring abroad. However, this animal is not en- 

 tirely deprived of sensatiwn, like the bat or the 

 dormouse, but seems rather to subsist upon the 

 exuberance of its former flesh, and only feels 

 the calls of appetite, when the fat it had ac- 

 quired in summer begins to be entirely wasted 

 away. In this manner, when the bear retires 

 to its den, to hide for the winter, it is extreme- 

 ly fat ; but at the end of forty or fifty days, 



The animals of this kind, including the Racoon, Wol- 

 verene, Glutton, and Badger, have six front teeth in each 

 jaw ; the two lateral ones of the lower jaw are longer than 

 the rest, and lobed, and are likewise furnished with smal- 

 ler or secondary teeth at their internal bases : the canine 

 teeth are single ; there are five or six grinders on each 

 ide ; the first "of which is placed close to the canine teeth : 



when it comes forth to seek for fresh nourish- 

 ment, it seems to have slept all its flesh a\\ ay. 

 It is a common report, that during this time 

 they live by sucking their paws, which is a 

 vulgar error that scarcely requires confutation. 

 These solitary animals couple in autumn, but 

 the time of gestation with the female is still 

 unknown: the female takes great care to pro- 

 vide a proper retreat for her young ; she se- 

 cures them in the hollow of a rock, and pro- 

 vides a bed of hay in the warmest psnt of her 

 den ; she brings forth in winter, and the young 

 ones begin to follow her in spring. The male 

 and female by no means inhabit the same den ; 

 they have each their separate retreat, and sel- 

 dom are seen together but upon the accesses of 

 genial desire. 



The voice of the bear is a kind of growl, 

 interrupted with rage, which is often caprici- 

 ously exerted ; and though this animal seems 

 gentle and placid to its master, when tamed, 

 yet it is still to be distrusted and managed with 

 caution, as it is often treacherous and resent- 

 ful without a cause. 



This animal is capable of some degree of in- 

 struction. There are few but have seen it 

 dance in awkward measures upon its hind feet, 

 to the voice or the instrument of its leader; 

 and it must be confessed that the dancer is 

 often found to be the best performer of the 

 two. I am told, that it is first taught to per- 

 form in this manner, by setting it upon hot 

 plates of iron, smd then playing to it, while in 

 this uneasy situation. 



The bear, when come to maturity, can ne- 

 ver be tamed ; it then continues in its native 

 fierceness, and, though caged, still formidably 

 impotent, at the approach of its keeper flies to 



the tongue is smooth ; the snout projecting ; and the 

 eyes 'furnished with a nictitant or winking membrane. 

 The soles of the feet are long, and extend to the heel ; 

 some use their fore paws as hands, and they are all able 

 to climb trees in search of prey, or to avoid an enemy, 

 b Button. 



