190 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Racoon. 



together, and on these occwions the interior of the 

 mouth was distinctly visible. 



A pair of these animals, which we have observed 

 in captivity, were at times very playful, contending 

 with each other, in rude sport, with great violence, 

 •truggling and endeavouring to throw each other 

 down, and all the while utterine a loud roanng 

 noise : at other times, huddled tocrether, they passed 

 whole hours in sleep. In India it is often led about 

 by mountebanks and jugglers, as is the brown bear 



According to CaptainWilliamson (' Oriental Field- 

 Sporti ') these animals are numerous on the boun- 

 daries of Bengal, which to the east and west are 

 mountainous, rocky, and overrun with low under- 

 wood : their principal resort is under banks, in large 

 burrows or natural cavities ; but they do not hyber- 

 nate. Their pace is shuffling and awkward, but 

 quick enough to overtake a man on foot. They 

 ascend trees with great facility. 



The natives greatly dread them ; the venr sight of 

 a bear, however distant, disheartens them, knowing, 

 as they do, the strength and savage disposition of 

 the sable shuffler. Of their ferocity, and the dilatory 

 torments to which they subject their victim. Captain 

 Williamson gives several horrible instances: observ- 

 ing, that they " will chew and suck a limb till it is 

 a perfect pulp," not biting away the flesh, like most 

 beasts of prey. 



846, &i7, 848.— The Polar Bear 

 (Ursus (Thalarctos) maritimm). Ours polaire of the 

 French ; Wawpusk of the Cree Indians ; Nannook 

 of the Esquimaux ; Nennook of ihe Greenlanders. 



Within the regions of the arctic circle dwells the 

 Polar Bear, one of the largest and most formidable 

 of the group. Formed to endure the roost intense 

 severity of cold, this monarch of a gloomy desolate 

 realm prowls in sullen majesty over wastes of snow 

 and among ice-glazed rocks in quest of food ; he 

 traverses fields of ice along the shore, clambers over 

 rugged icebergs, or even swims out from floe to floe, 

 orlVom island to island, ravenous for his prey. He 

 dives with admirable address, and is capable of con- 

 tending with his prey amidst the rolling waves. 

 The seal forms its favourite diet, logether with 

 marine exuviae, such as dead fishes and cetaceous 

 animals ; and he will attack even the walrus him- 

 self. In summer mountain-berries are eagerly 

 sought for, nor are sea-weeds or marsh-plants re- 

 jected. Of the activity of this bear in the water we 

 may form an idea from a statement by Cartwright, 

 that he saw a polar bear dive after a salmon and 

 kill his fish. 



Captain Lyon gives the following account of its 

 mode of hunting the seal :— " The bear, on seeing 

 his intended prey, gets quietly into the water, and 

 swims until to leeward of him, from whence, by fre- 

 quent short dives, he silently makes his approaches, 

 and so arranges his distance, that, at the last dive, 

 he comes to the spot where the seal is lying. If the 

 poor animal attempts to escape by rolling into the 

 water, he falls into the bear's clutches; if, on the 

 Contrary, he lies still, his destroyer makes a powerful 

 spring, kills him on the ice, and devours him at 

 leisure." The same author informs us that this bear 

 not only swims with rapidity, but is capable of 

 making long springs in the vvater. Captain Sabine 

 states that he saw one about midway between the 

 north and south shores of Barrow's Straits, which are 

 forty miles apart, though there was no ice in sight 

 to which he could resort for rest. 



The pace of this bear on shore is a kind of shuffle, 

 but more quick than might be expected ; and when 

 at full speed as rapid as the sharp gallop of a 

 horse. 



The average length of the jwlar bear (which has 

 been greatly exaggerated) is about six feet ; but it 

 occasionally attains to larger dimensions. Piillas 

 describes an adult female six feet nine inches in 

 length. The greatest length, from nose to tail, re- 

 corded by Captain Phipps, is seven feet one inch ; 

 the weight of the beast being 610 lbs. Captain Ross 

 records the measurement of one seven feet ten 

 inches, the weight being 1160 lbs.; and Captain 

 Lyon, that one, which was unusually large, measured 

 ■eight feet seven inches and a half, and weighed 

 1601) lbs. 



It is stated on the best authorities, that the male 

 does not hybemate, but that the female, on the 

 approach of the severer season, retires to some rift 

 among the rocks or ice, or digs a lair in the frozen 

 snow ; the falling snow drifts over the den, covering 

 it to a great depth, a small aperture for breathing 

 being always open. In this retreat, about the latter 

 part of December, she brings forth two cubs, and in 

 March quits the den with them, then about as large 

 as a shepherd's dog, and prowls abroad, lean, gaunt, 

 and ferocious ; hunger and the presence of her off- 

 spring adding fury to her savage temper. 



The male wanders about the marshes and adjacent 

 parts until November; he then goes out to sea upon 

 the ice in quest of seals, and becomes very fat. It 



often happens that he become* drifted out from the 

 coast on a floating field of ice ; and in this way, says 

 Dr. Richardson, polar bears are often carried from 

 the coast of Greenland to Iceland, where they com- 

 mit such ravages on the flocks, that the inhabitants 

 rise in a body to destroy them." 



Of the devotion of the female polar bear to her 

 young, and of the danger attendant upon the chase 

 ■ of these animals, many travellers have made men- 

 1 tion, and recorded various facts which came under 

 I their own observation. These, however, are so 

 I popularly current, that it is sufficient to allude to 

 I them. 



It was not until Linnseus published the tenth 

 edition of his ' Systeraa Naturae,' that he had any 

 idea that the polar bear was distinct from the 

 brown bear, the only species he appears to have 

 known. Martens, however, had previously dis- 

 tinguished it, and indeed was the first to cnarac- 

 terize it from actual observation. (' Spitzbergische 

 Oder Gronlandische Reisebeschreibung,' Hamb., 

 1675.) 



This species is of a more lengthened form than 

 that of the others; the head is very much elongated 

 and flattened, the ears and mouth comparatively 

 small, the neck very long and thick, and the sole of 

 the foot very large. The fur is silvery white.tinged 

 with yellow ; close, short, and even on the head, 

 neck, and upper part of the back; long, fine, and 

 inclined to be woolly on the hinder parts, legs, and 

 belly. The sole of the foot is almost entirely co- 

 vered with long hair, affording the animal a firm 

 footing on the ice. The claws are black, not much 

 curved, thick and short. Captain Lyon's crew found 

 none of the terrible effects (skin peeling off, &c.) 

 from eating the flesh, ascribed to it by some of the 

 earlier voyagers. 



849. — A Pretended Hybrid between a Dog and 

 A Bear. 



From time to time supposed hybrids of this sort 

 have been exhibited, and there is generally an in- 

 clination to believe in the existence of creatures the 

 offspring of such a parentage. That two animals 

 so different in structure, dentition, general habits 

 and instincts as the dog and bear should breed 

 together is improbable — nay, contrary to the laws of 

 nature and to physiology. We are not, however, 

 surprised that at a lime when a belief in monsters, 

 both of the human and brute creation, was almost 

 universal, that men of education should have cre- 

 dited the existence of a dog-bear. 



Our figure is copied from a curious work, entitled 

 ' Histoires Prodigieuses extraictes de plusieurs fa- 

 meux Autheurs, Grecs et I.atins, sacrez et profanes, 

 divisees en cinq tomes, le premier par P. Boaistuau. 

 Tome Premier, Paris, 1582.' It would appear that 

 M. Pierre Boaistuau, who visited England in the 

 reign of Elizabeth, and was introduced to the court, 

 was shown two dogs, asserted to be of the parentage 

 in question, both of which were presented to M. le 

 Marquis de Trans : one this nobleman gave to M. le 

 Compte d'Alphestan ; the other, of which the figure 

 is given by M. Boaistuau, he took to France. He 

 describes the beast as extremely ferocious, and in 

 form intermediate between the dog and bear, the 

 latter being its male parent. There can be but 

 little doubt that the bearwards palmed off these 

 animals upon him and others as hybrids, but which 

 were really dogs selected for their bear-like appear- 

 ance, an appearance increased by cropping the ears 

 and tail, and other skilful artifices. 



The genus Ursus is rich in the reliquiae of extinct 

 species. These occur for the most part in various 

 caverns in Germany, Hungary, and England, along 

 with the bones of other Carnivora, as the wolf, hysena, 

 tiger, glutton, &c., and also of herbivorous animals, 

 though these are less in number. In most of these 

 caves (that of Kirkdale excepted, where the remains 

 are principally those of an extinct species of hyaena) 

 the bones of the bear tribe are the most prevalent. 

 In the vast cavern of Gaylenreuth this is remark- 

 ably the case, the bones being referable to three 

 distinct species which have been termed Ursus 

 prisons, U. arctoVdes, and U. spelaius. They lie for 

 the most part confusedly in a bed of animal earth, 

 and are oiten encrusted with stalagmite, which lines 

 the roof and walls of the cave. Though scattered 

 and broken, these bones exhibit no tokens of having 

 been rolled. Professor Goldfuss states that with 

 regard to the cave of Gaylenreuth, if we assume 

 1000 buried individuals of the various species found 

 there, the proportion will be as follows : — Hyaena 

 spelaea, 25 ; Canis spelajus, 50 ; Felis spelaea, 25 ; 

 Gulo spelseus, 30 ; Ursus priscus, 10 ; Ursus arc- 

 toides, 60 ; Ursus spelceus, 800. I 



Of these extinct bears, the skull of the Ursus ' 

 spelseus is distinguished by the bold elevation of the 

 forehead, and its size, which indicates the animal to j 

 have greatly exceeded any living species. The 

 skull of the Ursus arctoides, though as large as that 

 of U. spelaeus, has the forehead much less elevated. 

 The skull of Ui-sus priscus is smaller, and ap- 1 



proache* in size and contour that of the common 

 brown bear, but is more flattened along the upper 

 surface. 



It may here be observed that certain serrated 

 canine teeth attributed to bears, under the names of 

 Ursus etruscus and Ursus cultridens by Cuvier and 

 others, and to the genus Felis by Bravard, are, ac- 

 cording to Kaup, the relics of an animal allied to 

 the Megalosaurus, one of the Saurian reptiles, but of 

 a distinct genus, to which he has given the name of 

 Machairodus. In Fig. 850, a is a tooth of Machai- 

 rodus, natural size, imperfect below ; b. the outline 

 of a cast of the perifect tooth ; c, a tooth of Mega 

 losaurus, natural size. Professor Owen, however, 

 regards the teeth (a, c) as having belonged to a 

 mammiferous animal, not however a bear ; and the 

 proof is afforded by the cast (6) which shows that 

 the tooth was originally lodged in a socket, and not 

 anchylosed to the substance of the jaw, and that the 

 fang is contracted and solidified by the progressive 

 diminution of a temporary formative pulp, and 

 does not terminate in an open conical cavity, like 

 the teeth of all known Saurians, which are lodged 

 in sockets. 



Genus Procyon. — Dental formula : 



1—1 



6—6 



6 



Incisors ^ Ca- 



-, Molars ^;^= 40. 



The two true molars 



on each side are equal, or nearly so ; and the car- 

 nassicre nearly resembles the true molars, not being 

 suited to cutting flesh. 



851, 852.— The Racoon 

 (Proci/on lotor). Raton of the French; Mapach, 

 Yllamaton, Maxile, and Cioatlamacazque of the 

 Mexicans, according to Hernandez. 



Notwithstanding Buffon's assertion to the con- 

 trary, the Racoon inhabits Canada as well as the 

 warmer regions of America ; its range being from 

 about 50° north lat., extending through Mexico and 

 the United States, and thence, as it would seem, into 

 South America as far as Paraguay. In size these 

 animals equal a common fox, having a stout body 

 with moderate limbs, and a plantigrade, or rather 

 semi-plantigrade, walk ; for though the sole is naked 

 it is only when the racoon rests that it is totally ap- 

 plied to the ground. The toes, five in number, are 

 armed with sharp claws ; the muzzle is acute, the 

 nose tapering beyond the lips, and flexible ; the eyes 

 are moderate, with a circular pupil ; the ears are 

 short, erect, and rounded ; the whiskers long ; the 

 tail moderate, and somewhat bushy. General co- 

 lour brownish grey, the tail being tinged with a 

 blackish tint ; muzzle dirty white ; a black or dark- 

 brown mark across the eyes and cheek, and another 

 between the eyes, extending from the forehead ; 

 under parts pale grey. 



The racoons are nocturnal in their habits, sleep- 

 ing out the day in their holes, and prowling at night 

 in search of food. The borders of the sea and the 

 margins of swamps and rivers are their favourite 

 localities ; and they prey upon small animals, birds, 

 eggs, and insects, adding roots, fruits, and sweet 

 succulent vegetables to their diet. .Nor are crabs, 

 oysters, and other " shell-fish" less acceptable, for 

 which they visit the shores at low wafer. 'To the 

 partiality of the racoon for oysters we can ourselves 

 testify ; for some years since we repeatedly tried one 

 of these animals with the hard-shelled mollusk in 

 question, which it greedily devoured. Its first 

 action was to crush the hinge of the shell between 

 its teeth : which done, it wrenched the two valves so 

 far asunder as to enable it to scrape out the mollusk 

 with its claws. 



In the description of a tame racoon by M. Blan- 

 quart des Salines, we are informed, " It opens oysters 

 with wonderful skill ; it is sufiicient to break the 

 hinge, ils paws complete the work. It must have 

 an excellent sense of touch. In this operation rarely 

 does it avail itself of sight or smell ; for instance, it 

 passes the oyster under its hind-paws, then without 

 looking seeks by its hands the weakest place : it 

 there digs in its claws, forces apart the vaWes, and 

 tears out the fish in fragments, leaving nothing 

 behind." This was precisely what we ourselves 

 witnessed. 



The racoon is asserted to have the habit of dipping 

 its food into water before eating it, whence it has 

 received the appellation of lotor, or washer ; but 

 although we have had numerous opportunities of 

 observing the animal in captivity, we never saw this 

 mode of proceeding. 



Though incapable of grasping objects with its 

 paws, the racoon can hold its food between them 

 pressed together, in doing which it usually sits upon 

 its haunches like a bear, and in this attitude it very 

 often feeds. 



Of the senses of this animal, that of smell is the 

 most developed, and is very acute : the eyes, though 

 the pupil is round, are better adapted for twilight "or 

 night than for the glare of day ; indeed, a strong 

 light distresses and confuses these animals exceed- 



