CLASS I.-MAMMALIA: ORDER 5. CARNIVORA. 155 



tare forty and two" of the mockers of Elislia, 2 Kings ii. 24, are probably the first bears on 

 record. These bears of Syria may be occasionally traced in subsequent history. Thus Matthew 

 Paris, in his "England," relates how Godfrey, as he was riding for recreation in a neighboring 

 wood during the siege of Antioch, saw a poor stranger, who was loaded with a bundle of dry 

 wood, flying from an enraged bear ; whereupon Godfrey gallantly went to the rescue, and the 

 bear turning upon him he was unhorsed, the horse being wounded by the bear ; so he fought 

 on foot, but, after a severe struggle, in which he received a most dangerous wound, he buried his 

 sword up to the hilt in his savage adversary, and killed him. The historian, in continuation, 

 relates the joy of the army at Godfrey's recovery. Long before this, Aristotle had correctly 

 described the bear as " an omnivorous animal, which, by the suppleness of its body, climbs trees 

 and eats the fruits and vegetables. It also devours honey, having first broken up the hives ; crabs, 

 too, and ants it eats, and also preys upon flesh." He then accurately describes how the animal 

 attacks the stag, the boar, and even the bull. A more modern writer, the author of a " Tour 

 on the Prairies," gives a similar description of the bear's love of honey, though in terms not 

 quite so classical. " The bear," he says, " is the knowingest varmint for finding out a bee-tree in 

 the world. They'll gnaw for a day together at the trunk, till they make a hole big enough to 

 get in their paws, and then they'll haul out honey, bees, and all." 



Although the bear has long been extirpated from England, the brown species w T as once 

 indigenous there. Two or three centuries ago it was imported for baiting, a sport in which the 

 nobility, and even royalty itself, delighted. A bear-baiting was one of the recreations offered to 

 Queen Elizabeth in her celebrated visit to Kenilworth. In Southwark, about the same time, 

 there was a regular "bear garden," which disputed popularity with the Tower and Globe 

 theaters. There was, and perhaps still is, a custom in the city of Oxford, to carry, on Christmas 

 Dav, a bear's head crowned with a wreath, before a procession. " The origin of this is said to be 

 that, in ancient times, that is, in the age of bears, a professor of the university, walking in the 

 forest and reading Aristotle, was met by a bear, who set upon him with his mouth wide open. 

 Upon this, the professor rammed the book into his throat, saying, "Eat it, it is Greek!" Whe- 

 ther the animal survived, we are not informed. 



In the early history of New England, the bears make a conspicuous figure, and from the 

 earliest times it seems to have shared with the wolf the privilege of being employed by nursery 

 maids to scare children into obedience. It is, however, rarely a dangerous animal to man, 

 excepting our American grizzly bear, even in his native forests. Some of the species are the 



GRIZZLY BEAR. 



pets of menageries, especially in Europe, and not unfrequently they have, been taught to dance 

 and tumble in a manner exceedingly amusing to the spectators. The bear is almost as much a 

 humorist, in his way, as the monkey, and the odd contrast between the gravity of his looks and 

 the drollness of his capers is irresistibly ludicrous. 



