BE A 



361 



B E A 



it 



Bear. 







Bayreuth to Brest and other ports of Fiance. The old Bis- 

 cayan, or Basque language, is generally spoken by 

 the common people. The head dress of the Basque 

 women is said to have a wonderful effect. The 

 chief amusements of the place are bull fights and 

 tennis. Population 13,190. W. Long. 1 30' (>", 

 N. Lat. 43 8 29' 21". See Link's Travels in Por- 

 tugal, chap. vi. () 



BAYREUTH. See Bareith. 

 BAZARS, the name given in Turkey and Persia 

 to the exchanges, or to places of public resort, like the 

 market-places of this country. An account of the 

 different bazars, which are often remarkable for their 

 magnificence and splendour, will be found under the 

 names of the towns to which they belong, (j) 



BDELLIUM, an aromatic gum, formerly used 

 as a perfume and a medicine, but now out of use. It 

 resembles myrrh in its external appearance, and in 

 some of its properties. Its smell is fragrant, and its 

 taste bitter and pungent, (tv) 



BEAM. See Carpentry, and Strength of Ma- 

 teria ls. 



BEANS. See Agriculture Index. 

 BEAR, a wild animal of the mammalia tribe, of 

 which naturalists have enumerated nine different spe- 

 cies. In this enumeration, however, they include 

 several animals which have very few properties in 

 common with the bear, and may with greater pro- 

 priety be reduced under different classes ; such are 

 the glutton, the racoon, the beaver, and the different 

 species of the badger. Of the bear, properly so 

 called, there are only three species : the white, or 

 polar bear, called also the sea bear, or ursus mariti- 

 mus ; the brown bear, or ursus arctos ; and the black 

 bear, or ursus Americanus. The polar, or sea bear, 

 inhabits the coasts of the Frozen Ocean, and some of 

 its eastern and northern isles, and is not unfrequently 

 conveyed on rocks or islands of ice as far south as 

 Newfoundland. He is much stronger, larger, and 

 fiercer, than either the brown or black bear, and 

 sometimes measures no less than twelve feet in length. 

 His face and neck are more elongated than in the 

 other species, and he is covered with a thick white 

 fur. During winter he lies buried amidst the snow, 

 in a state of torpor ; in summer he lives chiefly on 

 fish, but occasionally attacks the seals. The chase 

 of the white bear is a collateral occupation of the 

 mariners >who visit the coasts of the Frozen Ocean 

 for the capture of the morsh. In the forests of 

 Great Tartary, Muscovy, and Lithuania, bears are 

 sometimes found of a white colour ; but though they 

 resemble the polar bear in that single particular, they 

 are in every other respect completely different. The 

 colour of these animali does not depend, like that of 

 the hair, or ermine, on the rigour of the climate ; and 

 they might therefore be regarded as a fourth species, 

 did not the intermixture of brown and white, to be 

 seen in some bears, which are plainly an intermediate 

 race between the white land bear and the brown or 

 black, indicate that the former is only a variety of 

 ne of those species. 



The brown bear is a fierce carnivorous animal, so 

 extremely voracious, that he not only attacks flocks 

 and herds, but even devours carcases when hi a pu- 

 trid state. The black bear, on the contrary, 



a 



can 



never be brought to ta3te of flesh, nor has he ever 

 been known to attack any animal for the sake of 

 devouring it. Roots and vegetables of every kind 

 constitute his principal food ; but his favourite re- 

 past is honey and milk, of which the brown bear 

 likewise is excessively fond. The black bear is very 

 rare in Europe, but is extremely common in the fo- 

 rests of America. The brown bear is to be found in 

 almost every latitude of Europe, in China, Japan, 

 Arabia, Egypt, and as far as tiie island of Java. 



The form of the bear is rude and unshapely. His 

 unwieldy body is covered with a coarse and shaggy 

 hide ; his legs are thick and muscular ; and the long 

 flat soles of his paws, though they enable him to 

 tread with peculiar firmness, render his pace, at the 

 same time, very awkward and heavy. Yet though 

 thus unseemly in his appearance, his senses are ex- 

 tremely acute, and his form combines many advan- 

 tages which few other animals enjoy. Though his 

 eye is small, and his ear short, in proportion to his 

 size, he possesses in great perfection the senses of 

 hearing and seeing. In no animal is the sense of 

 smelling so exquisite ; for the internal surface of 

 his nose is not only very extensive, but of the tex- 

 ture best calculated to receive impressions from odo- 

 riferous bodies. His feet, armed with sharp claws, 

 and capable of grasping, somewhat in the manner of 

 a hand, enable him to climb with great facility the 

 most lofty trees : With his fore paws he can strike a 

 dreadful blow ; he can rear himself at pleasure on his 

 hinder paws, and, seizing his adversary in his embrace, 

 can easily squeeze the strongest man to death. The 

 bear delights in solitude, and chooses his den in the pre- 

 cipices of lonely mountains, or in the deep recesses of 

 some gloomy forest. Here he passes the greater part 

 of the winter, without ever stirring abroad. He is not 

 deprived of sensation, like the dormouse or marmot ; 

 nor has he, like the ant or the bee, laid up any hoard of 

 provisions for the season. But being excessively fat 

 when he retires in autumn, he seems to subsist chiefly 

 on his own exuberance ; the under part of his paws, 

 too, is composed of glands, which are at that time 

 full of a white milky juice, and during his retirement 

 he is said to derive considerable nourishment from 

 sucking them. *Vhen he first crawls abroad agaia 

 in spring, he is extremely lean and feeble, and hit 

 feet are so tender that he moves with difficulty. 

 These animals copulate in autumn ; the period of 

 gestation is about four months ; and only one or two 

 are produced at a birth. It was long believed that 

 the cub, when first brought forth, was a mere un- 

 formed lump, until it was licked into shape by the 

 dam ; but the truth is, that the foetus of the bear is 

 as completely formed before parturition as that of 

 any other animal. The young bear is very slow of 

 growth, and follows the dam for at least a year ; du- 

 ring all which time she displays uncommon tender- 

 ness for her offspring, and will encounter any danger 

 in its defence. 



The bear is in many respects so serviceable to man, 

 that he has at all times been a favourite object of 

 chase, and many ingenious methods have been de- 

 vised for catching or destroying him. The most 

 simple and common method is to attack him with 

 deadly weapons, such as spears, elubs, or lire-arpas. 



Bear. 



