12 NATURAL HISTORY of 'NORWAY. 



In warm weather they are tormented with a fort of fly, which 

 lays its eggs under their fkin, which produces a worm, which 

 eats itfelf outj and then is transformed into a large fly, according 

 to Hr. de la Mortray and Linnaeus's obfervations. More relating 

 to their nature and manner, and the Finlaps ceconbmy with 

 them, may be found in Hr. Peder Hogftrom's Account of, Lap- 

 marck, p. 22,3, & feq. 



SECT. VII. 



Ecus. From ufeful creatures I proceed to the hurtful, which we call 



here by the name of Udyr ; and I ihall firft treat of the Biorn, 

 or Bears ; the male of which, according to the peasant's dialecl^ 

 is called Bamfin, and the She- bear, Bingien. 



They are found all over the country of Norway, but are moll: 

 frequent in the diocefe of Bergen and Tronheim : there are here 

 two fpecies of them, viz. the Hefte Biorn, or Horfe-bear, the 

 largeft ; and the Myre Biorn, the leaft % Both of thefe are a 

 fierce, ravenous, ftrong, and cunning creature 5 the countryman 

 allows them too much, and himfelf too little, by giving them 

 the wit of two, and ftrength of feven men. The colour of the 

 hair of the Norvegian Bear is either dark, or a light brown ; 

 fometimes filver grey at the ends, which is the beautifulleft:. 

 Their head is fomething like a hog's, and they have much fuch 

 a fhout. They have fmall eyes, fhort ears, a wide fw allow, and 

 ftrong loins 5 but their greater! ftrength is in their fore-legs and 

 paws. On my annual vifitation-journies, which have moftly 

 contributed to my collection for this work, I have been ufed to 

 ftop by the way, and amufe myfelf with the farmers, entering 

 into converfation with them concerning the properties of various 



* Ol. Wormius gives three forts of Bears to Norway : In Norvegia tria genera- 

 urforum obfervarunt -, primum maximum quod non plane nigrum fed fulvum eft, non 

 adeo nocuum ut reliqua genera, graminibu3 enim &- arborum foliis vefcitur unde 

 illis, Gnefs-dyr vocatur, & inlocis defertis & fylvis vafliffimis flabulari. Sequi nucibus 

 & glandibus faginare folet, antequam ingruat hiems. Secundum genus minus eft & 

 nigrius, carnivorum equis aliifque animalibus, infeftum, , Ildgiers Dyr vocant voraciffi- 

 mum animal, quod licet graminibus & foliis etiam vefcatur, circa autumnum tamen 

 armentis infidiatur. Tertium minimum nocuum tamen Myre Biorn vpcant, quod 

 formicis delectetur earumque nidos evertere foleat iis ut potiatur. Nos quartum genus 

 addendum cenfemus alborum nempe urforum, quod aquaticum vel amphibium eft 

 pifcibus gaudens, & Groenlandia peculiare, Mufeum Vormian, p. 318. 



This laft fort, i. e. the white Bear, is faid to be very .fierce and ravenous. Thorm. 

 Torf fays, that Anno 132 1, one of thofe killed and devoured eight men before they 

 could deftroy him, N. P. IV. L. IX. p. 455. Frid. Martens gives an account in his 

 Spitzberg Travels, cap. iv. p. 73, that thefe white Bears have very long hair hanging 

 down ; are larger, and in the fhape of their limbs differ fomewhat from the reft of the 

 kind. They float about at fea upon great flakes of ice, and fometimes land in countries 

 they don't belong to. 



beafts, 



