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THE BROWN BEAR. 105 
of the fat which he has accumulated in the course of 
the summer, from the setting in of the cold season until 
the return of spring. The female remains somewhat 
longer in her retirement than the male, and does not 
quit it until her young are in a condition to follow her 
example. It is at this period that they are the most 
dangerous, their hunger tempting them to make prey 
of whatever may fall in their way. At other times they 
prefer fruits, roots, and other vegetable productions, to 
the uncertain supply which they derive from the capture 
of the smaller,' and especially the burrowing, quadru- 
peds. They never attack man unless provoked ; but 
when irritated they are formidable enemies to encounter. 
In such cases they usually raise themselves upon their 
hind feet, and endeavour to engage and squeeze their 
opponent between their fore legs, which are excessively 
powerful. Notwithstanding the clumsiness of their form 
they climb trees with great readiness, and swim with 
almost equal skill. In captivity they are sometimes 
taught to exhibit their awkward figures in a variety of 
forced and ludicrous attitudes. 
They sometimes attain a considerable age. In the 
pits of Berne, where it has been the fashion for many 
centuries to keep some of these animals, " for name's 
sake," at the public expense, a pair were living in 1771 
which had been confined there for one and thirty years. 
Another individual, which was born in the same pits, 
was living at the commencement of the present century 
in the Menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, at 
the age of forty-seven. In both these establishments 
their only food consisted of bread, occasionally varied 
by the introduction of fruits and vegetables. At Berne 
in particular, by a regulation of the police, all the 
unripe fruit that was brought to market was ordered to 
be given to the bears. They were never allowed to 
