QUADRUPEDS. 25 



teeth, when sharp and slender, are opposed face to face ; 

 but when thick, they are opposed crown to crown ; so that 

 they become truly transformed into molar teeth ; and nature, 

 in operating so considerable a transformation, has no need 

 of making any essential change in those organs. It is 

 sufficient for the purpose that a very small tubercle, which 

 is already found on the internal face of the slenderest teeth, 

 should simply receive a more augmented development."* 

 Even the bears of the Arctic circle, which, from the scarcity 

 of vegetable food in those frost-bound regions, are probably 

 the most carnivorous of their kind, have in a state of cap-, 

 tivity been sustained for a length of time, and in vigorous 

 condition, on bread alone. 



The labiated bear {Ursus lahiatus) inhabits the moun- 

 tainous districts in the north of India. It dwells in holes 

 and caverns, which it sometimes excavates with its long 

 claws, and feeds chiefly on fruits, ants, and honey ; but the 

 structure of its teeth indicates strong carnivorous propensi- 

 ties, and its natural habits are in truth but little known. It 

 seems more docile and intelligent than others of the species, 

 and is frequently taught certain " fantastic tricks" by the jug- 

 glers in Bengal, where it is exhibited for the amusement of 

 the people. It is not uncommon among the mountains of 

 Sihlet, and in the environs of other inhabited places. 



According to M. Duvaucel, three species of bear inhabit 

 India and the neighbouring islands. The tirst is the one 

 just noticed, which the reader may have seen exhibited in 

 menageries under the inapplicable name of ursine sloth ; 

 the second species is the Malay bear (17. Malayanus) ; the 

 third is the Thibet species described by M. Duvaucel, and 

 observed by Dr. Wallick among the Nepaul mountains. It 

 is supposed to occur likewise in Sumatra. A fourth Asiatic 

 form of this genus, the Bornean bear {Hdarctis eurypsilvs 

 of Horsfield), inhabits the great island from which it de- 

 rives its English specific name. 



The ratel or honey-eater (Vtverra mellivora of Spar- 

 mann), an animal of singular habits, long regarded as pe- 

 culiar to the African continent, appears from the testimony 

 of General Hardwicke to occur in India. Its manners, how- 

 ever, do not at all correspond with those assigned to the 



* Griffiiti's AJiimal Kingdom, vol. ii. p 246. 



OL. III.— C 



