BROWN BEAR BATHING. 



CHAPTER IX 



Eastern Europe 



Bear. 



The fauna of eastern Europe, as mainly represented by the basin of the Black 

 Sea and its affluents, is so characteristic and so different from that of central and 

 western Europe that it imperatively demands separate treatment. 



Foremost among the mammals of this tract is the brown bear 

 (JJrsus arctus),& species presenting great local variation, and ranging 

 over a large portion of the Northern Hemisphere. The size of" this bear varies 

 considerably; in the Himalaya it seldom attains a length of more than about 6i or 

 7 feet, the average being about 5 feet, but in Europe it is known to reach as much 

 as 8 feet, while its Kamchatkan and Alaskan representatives are far larger. In 

 Transylvania bears not unfrequently attain a length of 6i feet or more, with a 

 height of over 3 feet, but, as in other countries, specimens of all sizes are found 

 there, the brown bear varying in this respect perhaps more than any other 

 mammal. Equally marked differences in weight are noticeable among bears, a 

 Transylvanian specimen of 345 lbs. being at least one of the heaviest known. In 



