234 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



One which was killed by the crew of Captain Ross, and 

 whose skin has been deposited in the British Museum, 

 measured seven feet eight inches from snout to tail ; and 

 its weight, after a loss of blood, estimated at thirty pounds, 

 was 11311 lbs. 



The one, of which we first spoke, was entirely covered 

 with a white fur, composed of very long and thick silky 

 hairs, except on the head and limbs, where the covering was 

 short, and composed of woolly hairs, forming a thick stuff, 

 well adapted to resist the impressions of cold. The muzzle, 

 the tongue, the skin of the eyelids, and the claws, were 

 black. The skin of the lips and mouth was of a violet- 

 black. These colours did not change, and were the same 

 at all seasons. 



This Bear was fed with nothing but bread ; of this he 

 consumed only six pounds daily, and yet was always very 

 fat. This seems to prove that, as to diet, the appetites of 

 this whole genus are similar, and that the Bears can with 

 no propriety be divided into frugivorous and carnivorous. If 

 the Polar Bear, to the travellers who first met him, appeared 

 eager for flesh, it was evidently because the high latitudes 

 which he inhabits afforded him no other sustenance. Bears, 

 like other animals, will choose, by preference, the species 

 of nutriment to which they have been accustomed. This 

 accounts for the fact, that some Bears are extremely dan- 

 gerous enemies both to man and animals, while others 

 pass them by with apparent contempt. Thus, the Polar 

 Bears, accustomed to fish, will pass by flocks and herds 

 without attacking them, unless they are stimulated by very 

 violent hunger. 



This Bear, of which we have been speaking, like all 

 others of the tribe, possessed the sense of smelling in great 

 perfection, but his powers of vision were but feeble. His 

 hearing seemed little less developed than his sight ; and 

 nourished always on one kind of aliment, it was not pro- 



