THE ZOO IN A FROST 
5 
broad nostrils into the cold English air — with all the 
vigour of a shorthorn bull in a Surrey straw-yard ; 
and the wild swine, whether from India or Europe, 
are equally indifferent to the weather. It would seem 
that all those species, such as the wild boar, or the 
buffalo and bison, which are widely distributed on 
many continents, adapt themselves rapidly to changed 
conditions of climate ; and those wild boars which 
have been bred for several generations in this country 
and in Scotland, are rapidly developing a thicker and 
rougher coat of hair than their Indian cousins. It 
is probable that the tiger from Turkestan, if allowed 
the use of the outer cages, from which the Indian 
tigers and other large carnivora are withdrawn during 
the winter, would develop the thick and beautiful coat 
with which the northern tiger is represented in Chinese 
paintings. The bears, though so well wrapped up, 
take the frost as a hint to hibernate, and were for the 
most part fast asleep. Those which occupy cages 
facing the morning sun uncurl as the day grows 
brighter, and exhibit coats in the utmost perfection 
of winter growth. The black, brown, and cinnamon 
bears have at this time a bloom upon their fur which 
the utmost skill of the furrier fails to reproduce if the 
animal is killed at any other period of the year. In 
Southern and Central Russia many proprietors own 
large estates devoted to breeding horses and cattle. 
A menagerie of bears is often added to this. These 
are killed at the right season, and their skins sold in 
the best condition. Cloaks made from the skins of 
