LONDON BEARS 
209 
stretching their claws through the bars, in order to 
take hold of and suck the fingers of any one who 
would permit it. If not they sucked their own, 
keeping up a continual humming noise all the time. 
If left alone this became a loud, sustained complaint, 
like the noise of a litter of hungry puppies. 
Bears are far more difficult to rear than would be 
thought in the case of such rough, hardy creatures. 
They are liable even after the first six months to 
cramp and paralysis of the hind-quarters, which 
gradually increase until the animal dies. 
In winter-time all the bears are worth a visit. The 
black Himalayan bear, with its white front, the brown 
Russian and American species, with their magnificent 
soft fur, and most beautiful of all, the full-grown 
Syrian bear, with coat of cinnamon-grey, carrying a 
bloom like that on some soft fruit, are then in perfect 
condition. The two grizzly bears are interesting 
mainly on account of their rarity, and the possibility 
that they may live to develop the huge proportions 
which American hunters are unanimous in ascribing 
to the monsters of the Rocky Mountains. But even 
in full growth, it is much to be doubted whether the 
grizzly ever reaches the size even of the smaller 
Polar bear now in the Gardens. 
