CARNARIA. 
83 
and nocturnal life of the Insectivora, and^, like them, have no coecum : most of those which 
inhabit cold countries pass the winter in a state of lethargy. All have five toes to each foot. 
The Bears (JJrsus, Lin.) — 
Possess three large molars on each side of both jaws*, altogether tuberculous, and of which the poste- 
rior above are the most extended. These are preceded by a tooth a little more trenchant, which is the 
carnivorous tooth of this genus f, and by a variable number of very small false molars, which sometimes 
fall at an early age. This system of dentition, almost frugivorous, explains why, notwithstanding their 
great strength, the animals of this genus devour flesh only from necessity. 
They are large stout-bodied animals, with thick limbs, and tail extremely short ; the cartilage of their 
nose is elongated and moveable. They excavate dens and construct huts [?], where they pass the 
winter in a state of somnolency more or less profound, and without taking food. It is in these retreats 
that the female brings forth. 
The species are not easily distinguished by obvious characters. 
The Brown Bear(C/^. arctos, Lin.) of Europe, has the forehead convex : fur, brown, more or less woolly when 
young, becoming smoother with age. It varies, however, considerably in colour, and also in the relative propor- 
tion of parts : the young have generally a pale collar, which in some is permanent. This animal inhabits the 
high mountains and extensive forests of Europe, together with a great part of Asia. [The Barren-ground Bear of 
North America appears to be undistinguishable.] 
It couples in June, and brings forth in January; 
nestles sometimes very high up in trees ; its flesh 
is good eating when young, and the paws are much 
esteemed at all ages. [Tlie Black Bear of Europe 
is now generally regarded as a mere variety.] 
The Black Bear (U. americanus, Gm.) of North 
America, is a species well distinguished, with a 
flat forehead, smooth and black fur, and fulvous 
muzzle. We have always found the small teeth 
behind its canines to be more numerous than in 
the Bear of Europe. It lives chiefly on wild fruits, 
and where fish is abundant sometimes frequents 
the shores for the purpose of catching it ; resorts 
to flesh only in default of other food, [and is then 
destructive to Pigs ; is a great devourer of honey, 
in common with most others of the genus] : its 
flesh is highly esteemed. There is another Black 
Bear found in the Cordilleras, with white throat 
and muzzle, and large fulvous eye-brows {U. or- 
naius, a . vm.), [consmered by many to be a variety of U. americanus. The Jardin des Plantes^ however, has lately 
received a Bear from the Peruvian Andes, which appears very distinct : colour of U. arctos, with larger ears. 
The gigantic Grisly Bear {U. ferox), now a well-known species, from the Rocky Mountains of North America, is 
the most formidable of all the land Bears, and by much the largest. It can only ascend trees, as the others do, 
when young. It constitutes the ill-characterized subgenus Danis of Gray. 
The Syrian Bear (JJ. syriacus) is of a fulvous white colour, with a stiff mane of close erected hairs be- 
tween the shoulders. The species which inhabits the Atlas chain of mountains remains to be ascertained.] 
The East Indies produce several Bears of a black colour ; such as 
The Malayan Bear {JJ. malay anus') ; from the peninsula beyond the Ganges to the islands of the Straits of Sunda. 
—Sleek [with comparatively short fur], a fulvous muzzle, and heart-shaped mark of the same colour upon the chest. 
[This, and another species, or perhaps variety, {U. euryspilus,) with the whole chest fulvous, from Borneo, consti- 
tute the division Helarctos of Horsfield, or the Sun Bears. They are small, and of very gentle and playful dispo- 
( sition, easily rendered quite tame.] It is very injurious to the cocoa-nut trees, which it climbs in order to devour 
, the tops, and drink the milk of the fruit. 
! The Thibet Bear (U. thibetieus, F. Cuv.) — Black ; the under lip, and a large mark in the form of a Y on the 
^ breast, white ; profile straight and claws weak. [Is intermediate to the preceding and next species.] From the 
I mountains in the north of India. 
i , The most remarkable, however, of all these Indian Bears is the following, of which Illiger forms his genus 
I Prochilus. 
* We shall no longer repeat the words on each side, &c. ; it being 
understood that where the molars of one side are spoken of, those 
of the other correspond. 
t Although it may seem presumptuous to attempt to set Cuvier 
right in matters of this kind, it is nevertheless sufficiently obvious, on 
analogical comparison of the Bear’s dentition with that of proximate 
genera, that the third tooth in succession from behind represents the 
cutting or carnivorous tooth in each jaw, there being two tuberculous 
grinders in this and the five succeeding genera (which together com- 
pose a distinct natural group), and one only in the remainder. — E d. 
G 2 
