80 MAMMALIA. 
and to this leading distinction are added many others in the habits, and 
even in the internal conformation. In both the substitute for the clavicle 
is a mere bony rudiment suspended in the flesh. 
The PLANTIGRADA 
Form this first tribe, which walks on the whole sole of the foot, a cir- 
cumstance which gives them a greater facility in balancing themselves 
upon their hinder feet. They partake of the slowness and nocturnal life 
of the Insectivora, and, like them, have no cecum: most of those that in- 
habit cold countries pass the winter in a state of lethargy. They all have 
five toes to each foot. 
Ursus, Linn. 
The Bears have three large molars on each side* in each jaw, altogether 
tuberculous, and of which the posterior upper, and anterior upper, are the 
longest. They are preceded by a tooth a little more trenchant, which is 
one of the lacerators of this genus, and by a variable number of very small 
false xolars, which are sometimes shed ata very early period. This almost 
frugivorous sort of dentition is the reason why, notwithstanding their great 
strength, they seldom eat flesh, unless from necessity. 
They are large stout-bodied animals, with thick limbs, and a very short 
tail: the cartilage of the nose is elongated and moveable. ‘They excavate 
dens or construct huts, in which they pass the winter in a state of somno- 
lency more or less profound, and without food, It is in these retreats 
that the female brings forth. 
The species are not easily distinguished by apparent characters. We 
have the 
U. arctos, L., Buff. VIII. xxxi. (The Brown or common Bear 
of Europe). Forehead convex: fur brown, more or less woolly when 
young, and growing smoother with age. Some of them are greyish, 
others almost yellow, and a third kind is brown, with shades border- 
ing on silver. The relative height of their legs is equally variable, 
and all without any fixed relation to age or sex. They have most com- 
monly, when young, a whitish collar, which, in some varieties, re- 
mains for a longer or shorter period, and even for life. This animal 
inhabits the lofty mountains, and great forests throughout Europe, 
and of a great part of Asia; the coupling season is in June, and the 
young are produced in January. It sometimes lodges very high up 
in trees; when young its flesh is esteemed a delicacy—the paws are 
considered good at all ages. 
It is thought that the Black Bear of Europe is a distinct species: 
those which have been described as such had a flat forehead, and the 
fur woolly and blackish; their origin, however, does not appear to 
us to be very authentic. 
* We shall hereafter omit the repetition of the words “ on each side,” &c., it be- 
ing understood that we speak of the molars on one side only, those of the other being 
the same. 
+ We are not yet satisfied that the Grisly Bear of North America differs specifi- 
eally from the Brown Bear of Europe. 
P.S. Since the above note was written, General La Fayette has presented a Grisly 
Bear to the Menagerie du Jardin du Roi. In form and hair, some shades of colour- 
