ANIMALS. 523 



peiforiner of the two. I am told that it, is fust taught to per- 

 form in this manner, by setting it upon hot phites of iron, and 

 then playing to it, while in this uneasy situation. 



The bear, when come to maturity, can never be tamed ; it 



this remarkable circumstance in liis habits affords a striking distiuctiou be. 

 tiveon liim and all the other bears, which are essentially climbers. 



Of all the quadrupeds which inhabit the nortliern regions of the American 

 continent, the grizzly bear is unquestionably the most formidable ;uid the 

 most dreaded. Su[)erior to the rest of his tribe, not cxcoiiting eveu the 

 polar species, in bulk, in power, in aij ility, and in (he ferocity of his tUsposi- 

 tion, it is not to be wondered at that he should be regarded by the native 

 Indians with an almost superbtitious terror, and that some portion of tliis 

 Iceling should have been communicated eveu to the civilized travellers, who 

 have occasionally met with him in the wild and desolate regions which aie 

 subject to his devastations. In tlie journals of some of these travellers we 

 find recorded such astonishinpf instances of his strength, ferocity, and ex- 

 traordinary tenacity of life as would indeed amaze us, were we not aware 

 how much the luiman mind is prone, under certain ciicumstaiices, to fall 

 into exaggeration, iu many cases most certainly uniutc nticmal. Making 

 however, all due allowances for the existence of this very natiu'al feeling, 

 we are bound to acknowledge that there are feiv animals who can compete 

 with tliis terrible beast ; and that to be made the object of his pursuit is an 

 occurrence well calculated to alarm the stoutest heart, oven when pro\ idert 

 with the most certain and deadly weapons of human invention, guided by 

 the most experienced eye, and tlirected by the steadiest hand. 



M. Duvaucel eniuuerates three species of bears inhabiting India and the 

 neiglibouring islands. The first of these is the Ursus Labiatiis, nhicli was 

 strangely mistaken on its first arrival in Europe, nearly forty years ago, for 

 a sloth, and received from the naturalists of that day the name of I'radypus 

 pentadactylus, or nrsiuus, the Five-fingered, or Ursine, Sloth ; an appidla- 

 ticm which luvs been productive of no little confusiou in nomenclature, aiul 

 is still frequently employed iu menageries and exhibitions to distinguish the 

 same animal, and sometimes even nearly related species. With the true 

 shiths it has nothiu'- in common ; and the only circumstance which can at 

 all account for the blunder, consists in the accidental deficiency of the incisor 

 teeth in the animal fust examined ; a deficiency, which, according to thi- 

 strict principles of the artificial system then adopteil, was aloue sufficient to 

 convert a bear into a sloth. The second is the Ursns Malayanus, the 

 Malay Bear, admir.-ibly illustrated, both with regard t() character and habits, 

 by the late lamented Sii" Stamford Hafiles in the thirteenth volume of the 

 l.innean Transactions. The third is the Thibet Hear, « bicli, according to 

 his observations made on the living animal, is distinguished by the follow- 

 ing characteristics. In size it is intermediate between the two other s|i<'cies 

 which he describes. Its most remarkable distinction is derived from the 

 thickness of its neck and the flatness of its head, its forehead foiniing 

 ahnost a- straight line with its uuizzh'. The latter is nuiderately thick and 

 somewhat lengthened , aud the cars arc very large. The body is compact, 

 and the Innbs heavy ; a conformation from which we might be led !o infer 

 great muscular strength, tr)gelher with a capacity for climbing trees aud 

 Iicrforming other feats of a simiUir description, were it not for the compar- 



