432 MR. H. SCHERREN ON HYBRID BEARS. [Apr. 23, 



arum artium perstuclioso, qui hoc ipsum se ex bono authore 

 cognitum habere, mihi valcle affirmavit : ursum accepi ex montibus 

 Allobrogum jDuellam in spehmcam rapuisse, eandemque venereo 

 complexu et osculatione prosecutum fuisse : atque ex pomis 

 agrestibus, quae permulta quoticlie in spehmcam inferret maturiora 

 studiose delegisse, eidemque edenda amatorie dedisse, ac nimirum 

 cum ad cibi inquisitionem proficisceretur, ingenti saxo spehmcam, 

 ne puella exire posset, occludisse. Cum autem post longam 

 inquisitionem parentes ursinum latibuhim prpeterirent, suam 

 peradolescentem animadvertisse, saxoque segre depulso, earn 

 recepisse." 



Similar stories have been told from remote antiquity of the 

 anthropoid apes, and among them cases of hybridity, though 

 suspected, are not established. I am acquainted with no case 

 of hybridity in Bears in a wild state, and with but few in 

 zoological collections. Dr. Brandes has suggested that the 

 absence of records of wild hybrids is due to the fact that the 

 species occupy regions widely separated ; and that the paucity of 

 menagerie-bred hybiids may be accounted for by the fact that 

 there is always the fear that putting two individuals in one cage 

 may have bad results, since a fight between two adult bears is 

 sure to terminate fatally for at least one of the combatants. 



In an article in the ' English Cyclopaedia ' BroderijD refers to 

 a belief in hybrids between the dog and the bear ; and says that 

 an account of such a creature was given in the ' Histoii'es 

 Prodigieuses extraictes de Plusieurs Fameux Auteurs Grecs et 

 Latins, sacrez et prophanes, divisees en Cinq Tomes, le premier 

 par P. Boaistuau : Tome Premier, Paris, 1582.' That author 

 illustrated his article with a figure of the animal, of which a copy 

 is reproduced in the Cyclopedia. This animal (Broderip writes) 

 the author states he saw in England in the reign of Elizabeth, 

 but the probability is that he was deceived by the English bear- 

 wards and dog-fighters of Elizabeth's time, and that some dog- 

 selected for its bear - like appearance in certain points, an 

 appearance aided by cropping the ears and tail and other skilful 

 artifices, was palmed upon him and upon others as a hybrid 

 engendered between a dog and a bear. As Boaistuau's book is 

 rare, I have transcribed the passage from the copy in the British 

 Museum Library (ed. 1566, ch. xxix.) : — 



" Cest animal monstrueux, que tu vols figure au commencement 

 de ce chapitre, est engendre d'un Dogue d'Angleterre et d'un 

 Ours : de sorte qu'il participe de I'une et de I'autre nature : Ce 

 qui ne semblera estrange a ceux qui out observe a Londres 

 comme les Dogues et les Ours sont logez en de petits cachots, les 

 uns aupres des autres : et quand ils sont en leurs chaleurs, ceux qui 

 sont deputez pour les gouverner, enf erment une Ourse et un Dogue 

 ensemble, de sorte que pressez de leurs fureurs naturelles, ils 

 convertissent leur cruaute en amour, et de telles conjonctions 

 nayssent quelquefois des animaux semblables a cestuy, encore que 



