428 
MAMMALIA. 
therefore, advisable not to place too much confidence in its good- 
nature, hut always to keep it muzzled, especially when of adult age. 
The vivacity of its disposition, and grotesqueness of its move- 
ments, may be observed at the menageries, for instance, in the 
Pits at Berne, the Zoological Gardens of London, and the Jardin 
des Plantes in Paris. In the latter establishment, the Bear, from 
time immemorial, has obtained the name of “ Martin/’ no one can 
tell why, unless that it twists about in many different postures, 
hows awkwardly to right and left, stands upright, and climbs a 
tree — the incentive being the cake with which he is tempted 
by some smart nursemaid or gallant soldier. These Bears, how- 
ever, lie under the accusation of having devoured a soldier who 
ventured into the pit to rob them of a cake which some children 
had thrown them. 
Bears not being partial to heat, they are more common 
in the northern regions of the globe, and, although they are 
met with in warm and temperate climates, it is generally on 
the lofty mountain ridges. Europe, Asia, and America, all 
possess various species ; but it is uncertain whether any exist in 
Africa. The best known varieties of Bears may be classed in the 
following species : — the Brown Bear of Europe, the Grizzly Bear 
of America, the Black Bear of America* the Syrian Bear, the 
White or Polar Bear, the Sloth Bear, the Malay Bear, and the 
Bornean Bear. 
The Brown or Alpine Bear (Fig. 174) has short and crooked 
claws ; its head is very large, and its forehead forms a very 
decided prominence above the eyes. There are no less than ten 
or eleven varieties of it, each located in some particular region of 
Europe and Asia, and all differing considerably both in their 
size and also in their coats. Its length varies from four to five 
feet ; some Bears, however, very much exceed these dimensions ; 
one, for instance, which adorns the Museum of Lausanne in 
Switzerland, according to Tschudi, could not have measured 
less than seven feet and a half. The Brown Bear generally 
weighs from 220 lbs. to 330 lbs. ; but some have been killed 
which reached 550 lbs. Its colour varies from a bright yellow 
to brown and grey ; white and black Bears are occasionally found 
in Europe, but these are but exceptional cases of albinism or 
melanism. 
