22 
ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 
The Polar Bear ( Ursus maritimus ) is the next species, 
met with far up among the icebergs of the Arctic Seas ; it is 
peculiar to those regions, being found only along the sea 
coasts of the North, where it is so common that no voyager 
returns without being able to give more or less vivid or fright- 
ful accounts of its power or ferocity. The color of its fur 
is a silvery white, tinged with a slight yellow hue, similar to 
the creamy yellow which edges the ermine’s fur. Its head 
is so small and sharp-pointed, that there is a very snakelike 
aspect about that portion of the animal’s person. And this 
shape of the head is the more remarkable, for whereas in 
other bears the muzzle is separated from the forehead by a 
well-marked depression, in the polar bear, the line from the 
forehead to the nose is almost continuous. The sole of its 
foot is covered with a thick fur, intended, doubtless, for the 
double purpose of protecting the extremities from the intense 
cold, and of enabling the creature to tread firmly on the hard 
and slippery ice. 
To most other animals, cold is distressing ; to him it is wel- 
come and delightful. In captivity, he seems to suffer much 
from heat, and his restlessness, from this cause, can only be 
quieted by keeping him supplied with a water-tank, or by throw- 
ing repeated pails of water over him. He is a capital swimmer, 
catching seals in the water, and diving in search of fish, 
when not otherwise satisfied. He is often found miles from 
