ADVENTURES WITH THE BROWN BEAR. 
315 
the winter. It is well known that sugar has the property of producing fat to a very great 
extent, and as it possesses more of the saccharine property than any other natural substance, 
the Bear is led by its instinct to search for and to devour this valuable food with untiring 
assiduity. 
Again, the excess of carbon, whether it be diffused in the atmosphere or concentrated in 
the body, is always productive of sleep, or rather of lethargy, as is seen by the constant drow- 
siness of human beings when overloaded with this condensed carbon, or when they are placed 
in a room which is charged with the carbonic acid gas that has been exhaled from the lungs of 
its inhabitants. 
A curious phenomenon now takes place in the animal’s digestive organs, which gives it 
the capability of remaining through the entire winter in a state of lethargy, without food, and 
yet without losing condition. As the stomach is no longer supplied with nourishment, it soon 
becomes quite empty, and, together with the intestines, is contracted into a very small space. 
No food can now pass through the system, for a mechanical obstruction — technically called 
the “tappen” — blocks up the passage, and remains in its position until the spring. The 
“tappen” is almost entirely composed of pine-leaves, and the various substances which the 
Bear scratches out of the ants’ nests. 
From the end of October to the middle of April the Bear remains in his den, in a dull, 
lethargic state of existence ; and it is a curious fact that if a hybernating Bear be discovered 
and killed in its den it is quite as fat as if it had been slain before it retired to its resting- 
place. Experienced hunters say that even at the end of its live months’ sleep, the Bear is as 
fat as at its beginning. Sometimes it is said that the Bear loses the “ tappen ” too soon, and 
in that case it immediately loses its sleek condition, and becomes extremely thin. During the 
winter, the Bear gains a new skin on the balls of the feet, and Mr. Lloyd suggests that the 
curious habit of sucking the paws, to which Bears are so prone, is in order to facilitate the growth 
of the new integument. 
The den in which the Bear passes a long period of its life is mostly found under the 
sheltering defence of rocks or tree-roots, but is sometimes composed of moss which the Bear 
gathers into a hillock, and into which it creeps. These moss-houses are not so easily discov- 
ered as might be supposed, for the habitation bears a very close resemblance to an ordinary 
hillock, and when the ground is covered with a uniform carpet of snow, might easily be passed 
without detection. 
Bears are nearly as careful of their comfort as cats, and take the greatest pains to prepare 
a soft and warm bed, in which they lie at ease during their long sleep. The flooring of their 
winter- house is thickly covered with dried leaves and all kinds of similar substances, the 
smaller branches of the pine-tree being in great request for this purpose. In the Swedish 
language this moss-house is known by the name of “ Korg.” 
Heavy and unwieldy as the Bear may seem to be, it is possessed of marvellous activity, 
and when disturbed in its den rushes out with such astonishing rapidity that it will baffle the 
aim of any but a cool and experienced hunter. One writer, who witnessed the sudden issuing 
of a Bear from its den and its escape from its pursuers, compares the animal to those children’s 
toys that are popularly called “ skip- jacks,” and which execute somersaults by means of a 
twisted string, a wooden lever, and a little shoemakers’ wax. 
If captured when young, the Brown Bear is readily tamed, and is capable of mastering 
many accomplishments. It is a very playful animal, and seems to have a keen sense of the 
ludicrous, which sometimes causes it to overpass the bounds of good breeding. To its owner 
it displays a great affection, and can be trained to follow him about like a dog. Two of these 
animals belonging to Mr. Lloyd, and which he had tamed, were very gamesome in their dispo- 
sition, although, as they increased in size and strength, their frolicsome disposition became 
rather annoying. They were extremely fond of their master, and would seek him on every 
occasion. If he fastened the door of his room against his troublesome pets, they would clamber 
up the side of the house, and gain access by the window. 
It is said that if domesticated Bears be permitted to remain in a secluded place they will 
pass the winter in a torpid state. 
