236 
PEAR. 
who is at that time excessively fat, retires to the 
most gloomy part of the forest, where in some ca- 
vern that has been hollowed out by time, or in the 
decayed body of some large tree, he passes several 
weeks alone, without provisions, and to appearance 
almost without life. Howeyer, he is not entirely 
deprived of sensation, like those animals who spend 
a part of the year in a truly dormant state, but 
seems rather a voluntary prisoner, being provided 
by Nature with a sufficient quantity of fat for his 
subsistence during the time ; and he only begins to 
feel inclined to seek his food when the fat he had 
acquired in the summer is almost wasted away. It 
is then that he comes from his hiding-place, in 
search of fresh nourishment, wasted, lean, and weak. 
The common report that the bear lives during his 
confinement by sucking his paws, is without the 
smallest foundation, and may be classed among the 
many vulgar errors which custom has fixed a value 
upon. 
The female bear brings forth in the winter, and 
is very careful in providing a proper retreat for her 
young : she prepares for them a soft bed of moss 
and herbs, in the bottom of her cavern, and suckles 
them till they are able to go abroad with her. She 
likewise often conceals them in the most secret and 
gloomy places, to secure them from the savage dis- 
position of the male, who never fails to devour 
them whenever he can get an opportunity. One, 
two, or three young ones are generally produced 
at a litter ; and an ingenious writer informs us, that 
