260 ZOOLOGY. 



foot on the ground ; hence they are called plantigrades. 

 Their movements are slow, and they lead a nocturnal life. 



Bears are large, heavy animals, thick and short. The tail 

 is short, the limbs thick; but they are animals of irreat 

 strength and sagacity. The form of their extremities -nalles 

 them to climb trees very readily, and to sit erect on their 

 hind quarters. Sonic swim well, a quality they perhaps owe 

 to the fat with which their bodies abound. Of all the carni- 

 vora, they are those least restricted to an animal diet ; in fact,- 

 they are omnivorous, for which indeed the character of their 

 teeth, almost all tuberculated, evidently adapts them ; such 

 teeth being more fitted to bruise roots and grains, than to tear 

 the flesh of animals. Vegetable food is their regular diet, 

 and they prefer honey, of which they rob the bees, being well 

 protected from their stings by the roughness of their hides. 

 The greater number of the bears live in the forests, but one 

 species frequents the shores of the Polar Seas. The former 

 live in caverns or burrows dug by themselves, their strong 

 claws enabling them to do this. In extremely cold weather 

 they pass the time in a profound lethargy. 



415. The order called amphibia is formed of two genera, 

 the seal and walrus. In these animals, also carnivorous, the 

 feet are not adapted for walking, but lor swimming : they pass 

 the greater part of their lives in the water. 



[If my memory serve, my esteemed friend, De Blainville, 

 placed in a distinct class certain animals tiuly amphibious, as 

 the siren, proteus, axolotl, c. Seals, otters, A.V.. are not 

 strictly amphibious. K.K.] 



Fig. 199. The SeaL 



. lid. The order of cheiroptera is closely united to the 

 qnadrumana, Imt have the pectoral extremities organ:/ 

 Bight, by means of a lar^e fold of integument, extending from 



