156 
VERTEBEATA. 
MABTIX CLIMBING HIS TKEfi. 
In the Garden of Plants, at Paris, tliere are two deep pits, walled in and railed around, in which 
there are several bears, black, brown, and white. These are objects of the liveliest interest to vis- 
itors, and especially the children. The huge beasts will lie down, roll over, assume a begging- 
posture, mate funny faces, and play many pranks, for the petty boon of pieces of cake or bread 
thrown to them. Sometimes one of them will climb np the trunk of a dry tree planted in th^ 
middle of the fosse. Such a feat generally secures him a cake worth a sou. 
Some years since, one of the bears in this collection was, if we may use the expression, ouc 
of the lions of Paris. His name was Martin, and as all the people of Paris were freely admitted 
to the Garden, everybody became acquainted with him. During the hours of exhibition, the 
