2 
CARNIVORES. 
generally divided internally by a larger or smaller bony partition, in the bears 
(as well as in the following families of the raccoons and weasels), this bulla is 
depressed and flattened, and has no trace of an internal partition ; and its mouth, 
leading to the external ear, is produced much further outwards. There are 
also other characters connected with the skull which help to distinguish the bears 
and the members of the next two families from the Carnivores hitherto described, 
but the bulla alone is sufficient to determine at a glance to which of the two groups 
any given skull may belong, and the reader will accordingly perceive how import¬ 
ant is this apparently insignificant feature. The degree of inflation of the bulla 
of the skull is doubtless associated with the acuteness of hearing; the Carnivores 
with the longest ears, like the African fennec, having larger bullae than their nearest 
relatives. Bears are notoriously deficient in the sense of hearing; and it is probable 
that raccoons and weasels are also less acute in this respect than cats, civets, and 
dogs. Although many of the Carnivores with inflated bullae have, like the cats, com¬ 
paratively small ears, it is noteworthy that no bear, raccoon, or weasel has these 
organs of very large dimensions, while in some instances they are almost absent. 
The members of the bear family are characterised by their heavy and massive 
build, their thick limbs, extremely short tails, and the presence of five toes, 
armed with powerful claws, on both the fore and hind-feet. Moreover, when 
walking, the whole sole of the foot is applied to the ground, in the old-fashioned 
plantigrade manner, so that the impression of a bear’s foot presents a considerable 
superficial resemblance to that of a man. The claws of the feet are incapable 
of being retracted, and are well adapted for digging, although no members of 
the family are in the habit of constructing burrows for themselves after the 
manner of foxes. In most bears the under surface of the sole of the foot is 
