CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 5. CARNIVORA. 159 



fury. A peasant of Dalecarlia, one day, in a forest, fell in with a young bear, which had taken 

 refuge in a tree. This he shot at, and brought the cub to the ground; but his triumph was 

 of short duration, for its cries soon attracted the mother, all savage with rage, to its rescue. 

 Having discharged his gun, he was quickly overpowered, and desperately bitten in several 

 places. He would inevitably have lost his life, had not the bear at length severely wounded 

 herself upon the long knife which he carried attached to his girdle. Feeling the pain, she turned 

 from him, and spying her cub on the ground, which now Jay dead, she took it up in her mouth, 

 and bore it off, to the no small relief of her antagonist. 



The Black Bear of Europe, Ursus Niger Europceus of Cuvier, is now generally regarded 

 as a variety only of the preceding species. The Bear of the Pyrenees or of the Asturias, whose 

 young are of a yellowish white, with black feet, is also supposed to be a variety of the same. 



Asia can boast of several species of bear. The Siberian Bear, U. collaris, resembles the 

 brown bear, but has a white band passing over the shoulders to the breast. The U. Thibetanus, 

 found in the Himalayan Mountains and in Japan, has a thick neck, a flat head, large ears, a 

 compact body, clumsy limbs, and rather weak claws. It is black, of moderate size, and very 

 much resembles the European bear. The U. Isabellinus is found in the Ilimalavah range. A 

 specimen in the Zoological Gardens of London was nearly white, and it is conjectured that it 

 may be a variety of the Arctic bear. 



The U. Syriacus, no doubt the species spoken of in the Bible and already alluded to, is of a 

 fulvous white, varied with tawny spots. Two fine specimens have been in the Zoological Gardens. 

 The U. labiatus, the Big-lipped or Sloth Bear — also called the Jungle Bear, the Five- 

 fixgered Sloth, Sloth Bear, and Ursine Sloth — inhabits the mountainous parts of India. 

 It is of the size of the brown bear, and has a most uncouth — nay, even a deformed appearance. 

 Its back is humped, the limbs short, the head depressed. The nose is capable of extension, and 

 the lips are protrusile. The fur is long and shaggy, of a black color, with brown spots. Under 

 the neck and on the breast is a white mark. It lives in caverns, and feeds on fruits, honey, and 

 white ants. In captivity it is mild but melancholy. A pair were kept for some time in the 

 gardens of the Zoological Society. They lived very sociably, and often lay huddled together, 

 uttering a kind of rattling but low whine, or purring, which was continuous and monotonous, 

 but not entirely unmusical; indeed, by more than one wdio heard it, it was termed their song. 

 The paw was generally at the mouth when they made this noise. 



The Malayan Sun Bear, the Bruang of the Malays, U. Malayanus, is jet black, w T ith the muzzle 

 of a yellowish tint, and has a semilunar white mark upon the breast. Its appetite for delicacies 

 is extremely keen. The honey of the indigenous bees of its native forests is supposed to be a 

 favorite food ; and certainly the great length of the tongue is well adapted for feeding on it. 

 Vegetables form its chief diet, and it is said to be attracted to the vicinity of man by its fondness 

 for the young shoots of the cocoa-nut trees, to which it is very injurious. It has frequently been 

 taken and domesticated. In confinement, it is mild and sagacious. Sir Stamford Raffles thus 

 describes the manners of one which appears to have been deservedly a great favorite : 



"When taken young," he says, "they become very tame. One lived for two years in m\ 

 possession. He was brought up in the nursery with the children ; and, when admitted to my 

 table, as was frequently the case, gave a proof of his taste by refusing to eat any fruit but 

 mangosteens, or to drink any wine but champagne. The only time I ever knew him to be out 

 of humor was on an occasion when no champagne was forthcoming. He was naturally of an 

 affectionate disposition, and it was never found necessary to chain or chastise him. It was usual 

 for this bear, the cat, the dog, and a small blue mountain bird, a lory of New Holland, to mess 

 together and eat out of the same dish. His favorite playfellow was the dog, whose teasing and 

 worrying were always borne and returned with the utmost good-humor and playfulness. As he 

 grew up, he became a very powerful animal, and in his rambles in the garden he would lay hold 

 of the largest plantains, the stems of which he could scarcely embrace, and tear them up 

 by the roots." 



The Bornean Bear, the Helarctos curyspilus, differs from the Malayan bear principally in 

 having a large orange-colored patch, deeply notched at its upper part, upon the chest. In size 



