1G3 
VEETEBEATA. 
POLAR BEAES IN THE 11£^AGE^[IE OF THE ZOOLOGICAL GAEDENS, LONDON. 
short, even on tlie head, neck, and upper part of the back ; long, fine, and inclined to be woolly on 
the hinder parts, legs, and belly. The sole of the foot exhibits a beautiful instance of adaptation 
of means to an end, for it is almost entirely covered with long hair, affording the animal a firm 
footing on the ice. The claws are black, not much curved, tliiclf, and short. 
The accounts given of the size, strength, and ferocity of this animal by the early navigators 
are appalling ; but the accuracy of modern investigation has dissipated a good deal of the awe 
with which it was regarded, and has gone far to prove that the excited imagination of some of 
the narrators has led them beyond the truth. 
The gallant adventurers who conducted the modern northern expeditions, penetrated far 
beyond the points formerly reached, and had opportunities of observing numbers of Polar bears. 
The greatest length fi-om nose to tail, recorded by Captain Phipps, is seven feet one inch, the 
weight of the beast being six hundred and ten pounds. Sir John Eoss records the measurement 
of seven feet ten inches, and the weight of eleven hundred and sixty pounds ; and Captain Lyon 
states that one which was unusually large, measured eight feet seven and a half inches, and 
weighed sixteen hundred pounds ! The greater number of full-grown individuals are spoken of as 
far inferior to these in dimensions and weight. Fine specimens of this animal may be seen at 
the gardens of the Zoological Society in London, and the Garden of Plants, Paris. 
Pennant states tliat Polar bears are frequent on all the Asiatic coasts of the Frozen Ocean, 
from the mouth of the Obi eastward, and that they abound in Nova Zembla, Cherry Island, 
Spitzbergen, Greenland, Labrador, and the coasts of Baffin's and Hudson's bays, but that they 
are unknown on the shores of the White Sea. Sir Edward Parry saw them within Barrow's 
Straits as far as Melville Island; and, during his daring boat-voyage, beyond 82° N. latitude. 
Sir John Eichardson says that the limit of their incursions southward on the shores of Hudson's 
