142 WILD ANIMALS. 



bars, always produces the feeling, especially in the summer 

 months, that he is a most unhappy quadruped, although he has a 

 roomy den, comfortable place to sleep in, and a large tank or 

 swimming-bath all to himself. Yet he appears to miss the frozen 

 regions of his home, where the snow-storms, glittering ice- 

 banks and arctic cold, which to him are welcome and delightful, 

 would be death to many of his present neighbours. One has only 

 to watch him taking a bath to see how thoroughly he is at home 

 in the water. He rolls over on his back, with his feet uppermost, 

 dives under, and plays about, and his occasional snorts on coming 

 to the surface seem to be sounds expressive of thorough satisfac- 

 tion. The duration of the Hfa of these animals when in their wild 

 state cannot accurately be ascertained, but in the care of the 

 gardens they live on an average for about eighteen years. 



This bear is a rather savage specimen, and it would be dan- 

 gerous to venture too near. The beast, previously on exhibi- 

 tion was, unintentionally probably, the cause of an accident 

 to a French lady who was visiting the gardens. She was feeding 

 him with a bun, and in snapping at it, he bit off one of the poor 

 woman's fingers. The top of the cage it will be observed is well- 

 barred, a precaution shown to be necessary by an animal escaping 

 some years ago over a high, spiked and inward-curved fence, over 

 which it was considered an impossibility for any beast to climb. 



In the early part of 1877 a crowd was gathered round the pit 

 in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, where the polar bears are kept, 

 when a nurse-girl, with a five years' old child in her arms, allowed 

 it to slip from her grasp into the den. The two bears then 

 occupying the place sprang forward, but were startled by the cry 

 of horror from the crowd. Nobody for the moment, however, 

 attempted the poor little thing's rescue, but at last a gentleman 

 courageously allowed the keepers to lower him into the pit, and 

 he succeeded in bringing up the child in safety ; but he was not a 

 moment too soon, for the bears quickly recovered from their sur- 

 prise or alarm, and made a furious charge at him and his burden. 

 As it was, several bruises and a broken arm were the only injuries 

 the child sustained. 



The white bear was known to the ancient Greeks. Ptolemy 



