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ALMOST HUMAN 
ment, and while she restlessly paces her cage seeking for what she would 
find in the Arctic regions, the new-born babies die. Twice at the Zoo 
have this pair had twin babies. The first infants were found drowned 
in the pond. The following year at breeding time it was determined that 
if human vigilance could prevent it, there should be no repetition of this 
regrettable occurrence, and so four members of the staff agreed to keep 
vigil. Taking it by turns, they slept in a small tarpaulin lean-to run up 
at the back of the bears’ cages, and with the fictitious warmth of a small 
kerosene heater, they took week about, two at a time, for six weeks, 
one of them always doing sentry duty throughout the hours of darkness 
during that bitter winter weather. But it became evident that all their 
trouble was useless, and that Mrs. Polar-Bear had no intention of adding 
to her woes for that year. The following year the men were again dis- 
cussing similar sentry duty, but the day before they were to begin two 
dead babies were found lying at the edge of the pond, and the mother 
was resting comfortably and unconcernedly in the far corner. She made 
no fuss when the little things were removed, and evinced not the smallest 
interest in them from first to last. Since then she has evidently con- 
sidered that it is useless bothering about babies if they can only die like 
that, and she has settled down as a selfish believer in a good time, unham- 
pered by family cares. 
When it became known that the three brown baby bears had been 
sold to go to America, large numbers of people hastened to the gardens 
to see them before they should be taken away. One woman confounded 
them with the Polar bears, and demanded of a casual attendant there 
where she could find the Polar bear babies. She was politely informed 
that there were none. At once she became angry. She did not believe 
the statement, and insisted upon being told the truth. Again the man 
said there were none. 
“But there are, I tell you, and Pm not going away until I’ve seen 
them. You can’t fool me!’’ 
Taking the measure of her mind, the man said: 
“Well, perhaps I shouldn’t have said there were none here; but what 
I meant was there were none to be seen. You see, the Polar bears are 
amphibious creatures, and the mother keeps her babies under water until 
their eyes are opened. So really at present you will not be able to see 
them.” 
“Oh,” said, the disappointed woman, “I quite forgot they were amp — 
amphi — amphibious! What a pity!” 
The man consoled her for her disappointment by telling her there 
were three brown baby bears that were better than nothing, and advised 
