578 MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



erect, and rounded ; the tail short ; the nose forms a movable 

 truncated snout ; and the pupil is circular. 



As shown by their smooth tongues and tuberculate molars, 

 the Bears are hot peculiarly or strictly carnivorous. They eat 

 ■ tlesh when they can obtain it, but a great part of their food is 

 of a vegetable nature. 



The Bears are very generally distributed over the globe, 

 Australia alone having no representative of the family. The 

 common Brown Bear ( Ursus Arctos) was at one time an in- 

 habitant of Britain, and also existed over the whole of Europe. 

 At the present day the Brown Bear is only found in the great 

 forests of the north of Europe and in Asia. It feeds on 

 roots, fruits, honey, insects, and, when it can obtain them, upon 

 other Mammals. It attains a great age, and hybernates during 

 the winter months. Very nearly allied to the Brown Bear is 

 the Black Bear of America {Ursus Americanus). Both are of 

 some commercial value, being hunted for the sake of their skins, 

 fat, and tongues. A much larger American species is the 

 Grizzly Bear ( Ursus fer ox), found in many parts of the Ameri- 

 can continent. It is about twice as large as the ordinary- 

 Bear, but it is said to subsist to a great extent upon vegefcible 

 food, such as acorns. The most remarkable, however, of the 

 bears is the great White Bear {Thalassardos maritimus), which 

 is exclusively a native of the Arctic regions. It is a very large 

 and powerful animal, the fur of which is quite white. The 

 paws are very long, and the soles of the feet are covered with 

 coarse hair, giving the animal a firm foothold upon the ice. 

 The Polar Bear differs from the other Ursidce in being exclu- 

 sively carnivorous, since vegetable food would be wholly un- 

 attainable. It is as much at home in the water as on land, 

 and lives chiefly upon seals and fish, and upon the carcases of 

 Cetaceans. 



Other well-known Bears are the Syrian Bear ( Ursus Syria- 

 cus) of Mount Lebanon, the Sloth Bear {Prochilus labiatus) of 

 India, and the Malayan Bear {Helarctos Malayanus) of Borneo ■ 

 and Sumatra. 



It is a singular fact that the bones of a bear — the Ursus 

 spelcBUs or Cave Bear-^have been found, in Britain and in many 

 parts of Europe, along with the bones of other Carnivora, such 

 as the Cave Lion and Cave Hyaena. The Ursics spelmus was 

 a larger and more powerful animal than even the Polar Bear, 

 and there can be no doubt that it existed in the earlier portion 

 of the human period. 



Nearly allied to the true Bears are several small animals, of. 

 which the Racoons {Procyon), the Coati {Nasua), the Wah' 



