THE 



BEAR. 



165 



FEET OF BEAR. 



as we shall see, while most of them are wholly or largely herbivorous, some, such as the Polar Bear 



are almost entirely of flesh-eating habits, and one would naturally expect a difference in the teeth.' 



Curiously enough, however, no such difference 



is apparent. 



The Bears have five toes to each foot, all 



armed with long curved claws. . In the skxill 



the floor of the drum cavity of the ear is hardly 



at all dilated, so that there can scarcely be said 



to be a bulla tympani at all ; moreover, a bony 



passage of considerable length leads from the 



drum to the exterior, instead of the aperture 



being fhish with the wall of the drum, as in the 



Cats. As we have seen, the Cats have a small 



caicum, or blind process, to the intestine, and 



the Dogs one of considerable size. In the Bear 



this appendage is wholly absent. 



Bears are found over a large part of the 



world, in Europe, Asia, North and South 



America, and North Africa. They are, however, 



wholly absent from what is termed trans-Saharal 



Africa, that is, the part of the continent south 



of the great Sahara Desert ; and are also not to 



be found in any part of the Australian region, or, in other words, in Australia, Tasmania, New 



Zealand, and the islands of the Malayan Archipelago east of Wallace's line. They thus have a far 



more restricted distribution than either 

 of the other two chief families of 

 Carnivora the Felidce and Canidce. 



THE COMMON BROWN BEAR.* 



The Brown Bear is the commonest 

 member of the whole family, and has 

 been known from very early periods. It 

 was, indeed, for a long time the only 

 species known to Linnaeus, who recog- 

 nised no other kind up to the tenth 

 edition of his great work, when he 



oc, occipital condyle ; )>, pnroccipital process ; b.ty, bulla tympani ; ma, external auditory , 



passage ; g, gienoid cavity ; ,, jugular arch. doubtfully admitted the Polar Bear. 



The Brown Bear is found in many parts of Europe Norway, Russia, Central Europe, Spain, &c. 

 in Siberia, Kamtchatka, and Japan, and in a part of the Arctic regions of North America. In former 

 times it was found in Britain, whence it was imported by the Romans, under the name of the Caledonian 

 Bear, for the sports of the amphitheatre. " Ray quotes authority for the Brown Bear being one of the 

 Welsh beasts of chase ; and Pennant adduces the places which retained the name of Pennarth, or the 

 Bear's Head, as evidence that it existed in that principality. In the ' History of the Goi-dons ' it is 

 stated that one of that family, so late as the year 1057, was directed by the king to carry three Bears' 

 heads on his banner, as a reward for his valour in slaying a fierce Bear in Scotland." It is, however, 

 quite possible that this valorous Gordon may be a mythical personage, or that he may have lived at a 

 much earlier period than that to which his exploit is assigned. 



The Brown Bear is an awkward-looking brute, with sprawling gait, heavy body, and no tail to 

 speak of. It is about six feet long, and about three or three and a half feet high at the shoulder. 

 Its fur is longish, rather woolly, and of a dark brown hue. It lives a solitary life, and, like many of 



* Ursw arctos. 



UNDER VIEW OF BEAR'S SKULL. 



