October 16, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



347 



carried off by the leopards in the valleys of the 

 Himalaya. 



Among Indian beasts of prey there are three 

 kinds of bears ; two of them, the brown and black 

 Himalaya bears, are found only in the mountains 

 of northern India. The third kind, Ursus labiatus, 

 is found only on the plains or in the lower moun- 

 tain-passes, as in the Neilgherries of Madras. 

 This last is not a flesh eater, but lives principally 

 on wild fruit, various roots, grain, ants and honey. 

 The two mountain bears, on the contrary, are un- 

 doubtedly beasts of prey and kill and consume as 

 opportunity offers, sheep, goats and cows, a large 

 number of cases occurring every year. Woodmen 

 are often brought home frightfully torn and 

 mangled, and at times cases are reported when a 

 bear has attacked a man without the least provo- 

 cation. A she-bear with young is more eager 

 than any other animal to keep men from the 

 neighborhood of her young ; she wiU furiously at- 

 tack any one who approaches them, and will pur- 

 sue him, and wound him seriously with her teeth 

 and claws ; but a case has never been heard of, 

 although often mentioned in books, where she en- 

 gaged in close combat and attempted to crush her 

 victim in her strong embrace. Indian bears are 

 especially night animals, but they are frequently 

 met with in the daytime, especially during the 

 rainy season when the grass and jungles are thick 

 and overgrown. At these times, and in distant 

 places, where the forests are little travelled, one 

 may easUy come across the black bear seeking 

 acorns under clusters of oaks, or bending down 

 boughs to obtain the fruit, and it is not at all rare 

 to see a bear trotting toward one in the open high- 

 way. But if he is only left alone, as a rule he will 

 seldom trouble a man. 



To complete the record another four-footed 

 animal must be mentioned, namely, the bheria or 

 Indian wolf, to which many men and animals fall 

 victims. There is something especially abomin- 

 able in his character, for he scarcely ever ventures 

 on a man or woman, but makes children his prey. 

 In some of the northern provinces of India, es- 

 pecially in Oude, and in some parts of Rohilcund, 

 and also in the whole northwestern province of 

 Bengal, the loss of human life by the wolf is very 

 great. While the larger cat-like animals, as the 

 tiger, lion, panther, and leopard, are night animals, 

 the wolf, belonging to the dog tribe, is a day 

 robber. At night he carries off little children 

 from their beds, or from the side of their parents, 

 if they sleep in the open air. The natives state 

 that if a wolf has once tasted human flesh, he 

 afterwards sjjecially desires it, and touches almost 

 no other food. A wolf usually lies in ambush in 

 the immediate neighborhood of a village, in a corn- 



field, or in a strip of sugar-cane, and here bides 

 his time, and watches a company of naked chil- 

 dren at play, until by chance one of them gets 

 separated a little from his playmates and ap- 

 proaches the w^olf . Then a sudden shriek is heard, 

 and a brown object is seen fleeing in all haste ; 

 very rarely can such a child be saved, for the wolf 

 generally strangles it long before help can be 

 rendered. According to the natives, the Indian 

 wolf is so sly and cautious that he is never caught 

 either in ditches or in traps. 



AN AFRICAN SMITHY. 



In his accoimt in the London Graphic of his 

 journey to Kilima-njaro, Mr. H. H. Johnston de- 

 scribes a native forge : — 



The Ma-Chaga are clever smiths, and forge aU 

 kinds of utensils, weapons and ornaments from the 

 pig-iron they receive from the country of Usanga, 



AN AFRICAN FORGE. 



near Lake Jipe. The forge is but a pair of goat- 

 skin bellows, converging into a hollow cone of 

 wood, to which are added two more segments of 

 stone, pierced through the centre, and ending in a 

 stone nozzle, which is thrust into the furnace of 

 charcoal. The bellows are kept steady by several 



