428 MAMMALIA. 



therefore, advisable not to place too much confidence in its good- 

 nature, but always to keep it muzzled, especially when of adult age. 



The vivacity of its disposition, and grotesqueness of its move- 

 ments, may be observed at the menageries, for instance, in the 

 Pits at Berne, the Zoological Gardens of London, and the Jardin 

 des Plantes in Paris. In the latter establishment, the Bear, from 

 time immemorial, has obtained the name of " Martin," no one can 

 tell why, unless that it twists about in many different postures, 

 bows awkwardly to right and left, stands upright, and climbs a 

 tree — the incentive being the cake with which he is tempted 

 by some smart nursemaid or gallant soldier. These Bears, how- 

 ever, lie under the accusation of having devoured a soldier who 

 ventured into the pit to rob them of a cake which some children 

 had thrown them. 



Bears not being partial to heat, they are more common 

 in the nortliern regions of the globe, and, although they are 

 met with in warm and temperate climates, it is generally on 

 the lofty mountain ridges. Europe, Asia, and America, all 

 possess various species ; but it is uncertain whether any exist in 

 Africa. The best known varieties of Bears may be classed in the 

 following species : — the Brown Bear of Europe, the Grizzly Bear 

 of America, the Black Bear of America, the Syrian Bear, the 

 White or Polar Bear, the Sloth Bear, the Malay Bear, and the 

 Bornean Bear. 



The Brown or Alpine Bear (Fig. 174) has short and crooked 

 claws ; its head is very large, and its forehead forms a very 

 decided prominence above the ej^es. There are no less than ten 

 or eleven varieties of it, each located in some particular region of 

 Europe and Asia, and all differing considerably both in their 

 size and also in their coats. Its length varies from four to five 

 feet ; some Bears, however, very much exceed these dimensions ; 

 one, for instance, which adorns the Museum of Lausanne in 

 Switzerland, according to Tschudi, could not have measured 

 less than seven feet and a half. The Brown Bear generally 

 weighs from 220 lbs. to 330 lbs. ; but some have been killed 

 which reached 550 lbs. Its colour varies from a bright yellow 

 to brown and grey ; white and black Bears are occasional^ found 

 in Europe, but these are but exceptional cases of albinism or 

 melanism. 



