86 MAMMALIA. PER*. 



ble ; four hollowed incisors in each jaw. From ten inches to a 

 foot long. Madagascar and the Isle of France Buff, xii. pi. 56. 



M. F. Cuvier has found in a young individual of this species two small super- 

 numerary incisors in the upper jaw, situated before the canines, which he presumes 

 fall out with age. 



C. spinosus, Desm. (Erinacens ecaudaius, Lin.) Spines short and 

 stiff on the upper parts of the body, bristles and hair on the lower 

 parts ; four incisors only in the lower jaw. Inhabits Madagascar. 

 Buff. xii. pi. 57. 



C. semispinosus, Desm. (Erinaceus semispinosus, Cuv.) Body co- 

 vered with bristles and spines, mixed,, banded with yellow and 

 black ; six incisors above and below ; canines slender and crooked. 

 Four inches long. Inhabits Madagascar. Buff. Sup. iii. pi. 37 



FAMILY II.- CARNIVORA. 



Six incisors in each jaw ; molars generally edged, sometimes 

 tuberculous, never rough with pointed tubercles on their 

 crown ; canines very strong. 



1st TRIBE. PLANTIGRADA. Sole of the foot entirely resting 



on the ground. 

 Gen. 64. URSUS, Lin. Cuv. Geoff., &c. 



Incisors , canines J-{, molars ^-7 = 82 to 44. Incisors of 

 the lower jaw on the same line ; posterior molars very strong^ 

 with a square crown and blunt tubercles ; feet pentadactyle, 

 armed with strong nails ; body thick ; tail short ; mammae 

 six, two pectoral and four ventral. 



U. Arctos, Lin. Common Brown Bear. Forehead convex above the 

 . 7 eyes ; muzzle truncated ; fur brown. Upwards of four feet long. 



Inhabits Europe, and temperate parts of Asia. Shaw, i. pi. 102. 



The bear lives in solitary places and in the deepest recesses of forests. In winter 

 it retires to caverns or the hollow trunks of large trees, where it exists in a kind of 

 torpidity, occasionally sucking its fore-paws. Its food consists chiefly of vegetable 

 substances ; and it never attacks man or animals but when pressed by hunger. In 

 fighting it raises itself upon its hind legs, and presses its enemy by its fore-feet to its 

 breast. 



Var. A. White bear of Europe ; an albino variety. 



Numerous other varieties of this species are noticed, founded upon shades of colour 

 more or less black, fawn-coloured, or white. 



U.cinereus, Desm. (Ursusferox, Lewis and Clark.) Gray Bear. Fur 

 long, cinereous gray, very thick, especially around the neck and 

 back of the head. About 8J feet long Inhabits United States. 



U. Americanus, Pall. Desm. Cuv. Black Bear. Nose on the same 



fj t line as the forehead, which is gibbous ; fur black, shining, not 



curled. Four feet eight inches long. Inhabits North America. 



U. maritimus, Lin Desm. The Polar Bear. Head elongated ; cra- 

 nium flattened ; neck long ; hair long, soft, and white. About 

 7| feet long. Inhabits coasts of the Polar Sea Shaw, i. pi. 103. 



