BEARS. 



25 



the nose is but slightly produced. The claws are considerably curved, and pale 

 in colour. The fur of this species is very short and coarse, and is mostly black, 

 although tending to brown in some parts; the whole of the muzzle is paler, or 

 whitish, and the light band on the chest varies from white to orange, and is 

 subject to considerable diversity of form, sometimes extending as a streak on to 

 the under-part of the body. The general length of the head and body is only 

 about 4 feet, and, according to Mr. Blanford, never exceeds 4J feet. A female 

 mentioned by the same writer, although fully adult, had a length of only 3 \ feet, 

 and did not weigh more than 60 lbs. This species is found in the Malay Peninsula, 

 and the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and also extends through Burma 

 into the Garo Hills in North-Eastern India. Of its habits, Mr. Blanford states 

 that little is known except in captivity. It is a purely forest animal, and an 

 admirable climber. It is essentially frugivorous, but like other bears occasionally 

 kills and eats mammals and birds. It is said to be very fond of honey, and it 

 probably devours insects and larvae. When caught young, it is generally easily 

 tamed, and is usually gentle and amusing when in captivity. Its general pace is 

 much quicker than that of other bears, and a specimen kept some years ago in the 

 Zoological Gardens at Calcutta, used to pace up and down its cage with great 

 rapidity, turning very suddenly every time it came to the end of its track. A 

 fragment of the jaw of an extinct bear, obtained from the gravels of the Narbada 

 Valley, in India, appears to indicate a more or less closely allied species. 



The Extinct Cave-Bear (Ursus spelceus). 



No account of the typical bears would be complete without some reference to 

 the great extinct cave-bear, of which the remains are found in such profusion in 

 the caverns of Europe, and 

 less commonly in the brick- 

 earths and other superficial 

 deposits. This gigantic 

 species, of which the skull is 

 represented in the annexed 

 figure, was a contemporary 

 of the mammoth and early 

 human inhabitants of Europe. 

 The skull is readily dis- 

 tinguished from that of all 

 other species by the great 

 prominence immediately 



above the eyes ; while the molar teeth are characterised by the extremely fine 

 tuberculation of their crowns, in which, when unworn, the enamel has a kind of 

 wavy pattern. 



The cave-bear, although it had a wide range in Europe, is unknown both in 

 the extreme north and the extreme south of that continent ; it is found in the 

 British Isles as far north as Yorkshire, but is not definitely known to occur m 

 Ireland. The number of individuals inhabiting Brixham Cave, near Torquay, and 



SIDE-VIEW OF SKULL OP CAVE-BEAU. 



