740 



MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



erect, and rounded ; the tail short ; the nose forms a movable 

 truncated snout ; and the pupil is circular. 



As shown by their smooth tongues and tuberculate molars, 

 the Bears are not peculiarly or strictly carnivorous. They eat 



Fig. 428. Dentition of the Polar Bear (Thalassarctos maritimus). 



flesh when they can obtain it, but a great part of their food is 

 of a vegetable nature. 



The Bears are very generally distributed over the globe, Australia and 

 Africa alone having no representative of the family. The common Brown 

 Bear (Ursus arctos) was at one time an inhabitant of Britain, and also 

 existed over the whole of Europe. At the present day the Brown Bear is 

 only found in the great forests of the north of Europe and in Asia, and in 

 the Arctic portions of North America. It feeds on roots, fruits, honey, 

 insects, and, when it can obtain them, upon other Mammals. It attains a 

 great age, and hibernates during the winter months. Very nearly allied 

 to the Brown Bear is the Black Bear of America (Ursus Americanus}. 

 Both are of some commercial value, being hunted for the sake of their 

 skins, fat, and tongues. A much larger American species is the Grizzly 

 Bear (Ursus ferox], found in many parts of the American continent. It is 

 about twice as large as the ordinary Bear, but it is said to subsist to a 

 great extent upon vegetable food, such as acorns. The most remarkable, 

 however, of the Bears is the great White Bear ( Thalassarctos maritimus\ 

 which is exclusively a native of the Arctic regions. It is a very large and 

 powerful animal, the fur of which is cream-coloured. The paws are very 

 long, and the soles of the feet are covered with coarse hair, giving the 

 animal a firm foothold upon the ice. The Polar Bear differs from the 

 other Ursidce in being exclusively carnivorous, since vegetable food would 

 be generally unattainable. It is as much at home in the water as on land, 

 and lives chiefly upon seals and fish, and the carcasses of Cetaceans. 



Amongst the other Bears may be mentioned the Sun-bears (Helarctos] 

 of the Malayan Archipelago, the Honey-bears (Prochilus or Melursus) of 

 India, and the Spectacled Bear (Helarctos or Tremarctos ornatus] of the 



