HIBERNATION OF THE BEAR. 393 



he demanded, with some irritation, " who brought the animal there ? " and was told he 

 was only a friend of H 's, whom he had forgotten to introduce. 



The Bear speedily became a favorite in the regiment, and was promoted to the office 

 of sentinel over the property contained in a baggage-wagon. Unfortunately, the poor 

 animal's sense of justice was so acute that it executed its responsible office with too much 

 zeal. On one occasion, a soldier had gone to the wagon with the intention of robbing it 

 of some of the property contained therein, and quietly inserted his arm under the cover- 

 ings. His intended depredation was, however, soon checked by the teeth of the watchful 

 Bear, which bit his arm with such severity that the limb was rendered useless for the 

 rest of the man's life. Some little time after this occurrence, a child belonging to the 

 regiment made a similar attempt upon the wagon, and was killed by the Bear in its 

 anxiety to fulfil the trust that had been committed to its charge. As the animal was 

 manifestly an unsafe one, and it was feared that the creature might gain a thirst for 

 blood, it was condemned to be shot, although not without much regret on the part of 

 judge and executioners. 



The various military adventures of this Bear are very curious, but would occupy too 

 large a space for the present work. 



During the autumn, the Bear becomes extremely fat, in consequence of the ample 

 feasts which it is able to enjoy, and makes its preparations for passing the cold and 

 inhospitable months of winter. About the end of October the Bear has completed its 

 winter house, and ceases feeding for the' year. The saccharine-loving instinct of the 

 Bear which leads it to discover a bee's nest, however carefully it may be concealed, 

 and to undergo much toil and trouble for the sake of the sweet banquet, seems to be 

 given to the animal for the purpose of enabling it to lay up within its own body a 

 supply of fat which shall serve the double purpose of sustaining the creature in proper 

 condition during its long fast, and of loading the body with carbon for the purpose of 

 producing the state of lethargy in which the animal passes the winter. It is well known 

 that sugar has the property of producing fat to a very great extent, and as it possesses 

 more of the saccharine property than any other natural substance, the Bear is led by 

 its instinct to search for and to devour this valuable food with untiring assiduity. 



Again, the excess of carbon, whether it be diffused in the atmosphere or concen- 

 trated in the body, is always productive of sleep, or rather of lethargy, as is seen by 

 the constant drowsiness of human beings when overloaded with this condensed carbon, 

 or when they are placed in a room which is charged with the carbonic acid gas that 

 has been exhaled from the lungs of its inhabitants. 



A curious phenomena now takes place in the animal's digestive organs, which gives 

 it the capability of remaining through the entire winter in a state of lethargy, without 

 food, and yet without losing condition. As the stomach is no longer supplied with 

 nourishment, it soon becomes quite empty, and, together with the intestines, is con- 

 tracted into a very small space. No food can now pass through the system, for a 

 mechanical obstruction technically called the " tappen " blocks up the passage, and 

 remains in its position until the spring. The " tappen " is almost entirely composed 

 of pine-leaves, and the various substances which the Bear scratches out of the ants' 

 nests. 



From the end of October to the Middle of April the Bear remains in his den, in a dull, 

 lethargic state of existence ; and it is a curious fact that if a hibernating Bear be dis- 

 covered and killed in its den it is quite as fat as if it had been slain before it retired to 

 its resting-place. Experienced hunters say, that even at the end of its five months' sleep, 

 the Bear is as fat as at its beginning. Sometimes it is said that the Bear loses the 

 "tappen" too soon, and in that case it immediately loses its sleek condition, and becomes 

 extremely thin. During the winter, the Bear gains a new skin on the balls of the feet, 

 and Mr. Lloyd suggests that the curious habit of sucking the paws, to which Bears are so 

 prone, is in order to facilitate the growth of the new integument. The den in which the 

 Bear passes a long period of its life is mostly found under the sheltering defence of rocks 

 or tree-roots, but is sometimes composed of moss which the Bear gathers into a hillock, 

 and into which it creeps. These moss-houses are not so easily discovered as might be 

 supposed, for the habitation bears a very close resemblance to an ordinary hillock, and 



