In shape the polar bear deviates more than any of the species from the generic type. It stands lower on the limbs, which are very strong and thick; the body seems consequently longer in proportion, but it is the neck and head that more especially possess this elongated character. The latter is narrow and tapering, and its contour presents a continuous. line without that separation of the forehead from the muzzle which we observe in the brown bear. The projecting eyebrows are a peculiar character in the white bear. The eyes have the disproportionate smallness common to the genus; but the ears are much shorter than in the land bears, and thus form as slight an obstacle as possible while diving. The feet are remarkably long and broad; the toes united by a strong web as far as the roots of the nails: these are of a compressed form, and very strong, but shorter, perhaps, than in any other species. The polar bear can thus steal silently on its prey; and while a noiseless tread is further ensured by the hairy nature of the soles of the feet, this structure at the same time ensures him a firmer footing on the ice. The hair on the head is very short and close-set; it becomes longer about the occiput and cheeks; upon the body it becomes still longer and shaggy, hanging down from the sides. so as almost to hide the legs, and quite concealing the short tail behind. The longer hairs are intermixed at their roots with a very fine white wool or fur. In considering the habits of this species of quadruped, we cannot avoid, in the first place, being struck with the remarkable geographical position in which nature has placed it. Animals in general, like plants, avoid extreme cold, rather than extreme heat: and though in consequence of being endowed with higher powers, their distribution over the globe is not regulated so absolutely by temperature as vegetables, yet they are considerably influenced by it. It is interesting, indeed, to observe the various modes in which they evade the influence of cold; some escape by migrating to warmer climates; others pass into a state of torpidity, previously placing themselves beyond the influence of low temperature either by surrounding themselves with substances that are bad conductors of heat, burrowing into the earth, or submerging beneath water. But with the present animal, heat seems the chief annoyance, and cold his greatest luxury. He is, however, stated by some to pass the dreariest period of the arctic winter in a torpid state, sheltered from the intense cold by the snow that has accumulated upon him. But, as we have before observed with respect to the common bear, some doubt also exists as to whether the polar bear hibernates, or not. Dr. Richardson observes, "Our navigators confirm the statements of Fabricius and Hearne, that the polar bear does not hibernate, having occasionally seen them in the winter, and actually pursued one in December. It is mentioned in the narrative, that the Esquimaux killed eight or ten in the winter of 1822; and Mr. Edwards learnt from the hunters that they often saw and killed the males when roaming at large during that season, and as often dug the dams with their cubs from under the snow. These facts seem conclusive as to the uniform hibernation of the gravid females, and the, at least, occasional appearance of the males abroad in the winter. It is possible, however, that the latter may also become torpid in the winter, when the local circumstances of their native districts are such as to preclude them from reaching open water at that season; and thus the opposite opinions of naturalists may be in some degree reconciled."-Appendix to Parry's Second Voyage, p. 229. It is at the decline of winter that the polar bears, and especially the females, are the fiercest and most formidable. At this period the stores of fat accumulated in autumn have become exhausted, and the maternal cares combining with hunger render the dam remarkably bold. They are rarely, however, the aggressors; but become furious when attacked. The Siberian hunters, however, assured Pallas that the polar bear was more easily killed than the land bear, rarely surviving two body wounds. "The weak and ill-armed natives of those parts, "he observes," do not fear to enter into single combat with this powerful and generally dreaded beast, and for the most part come off conquerors. Armed only with a rude spear, they provoke their antagonist; and whilst he rushes madly forward to the attack, they slip with agility to one side and pierce him in the flank; for the bear sees nothing but what is straight before him, and passes blindly beyond his aggressor; which has been unaptly attributed to the celerity of his onset. But if he is beset with dogs, he heeds not the hunter, and consequently gives him ample opportunity_to wound him from behind or on one side. And thus the Jacuti attack him with great safety, first setting on him a number of dogs; and they dread the polar bear much less than the brown bear. Thus in this unequal conflict the Siberian hunters, who are terrified by the first discharge of fire-arms as much as the American Indians, far exceed the Europeans in boldness and agility; for though the latter fearlessly stand in the ranks and brave the blind fortune of war, yet which of these heroes would venture singly to attack the THE POLAR BEAR. 75 bear, armed with a simple lance?" Pallas takes notice of an assertion respecting the ease with which the polar bear, like the scal, may be killed by a blow on the nose; and he observes that a young animal which he kept alive during one winter, was quickly enraged by slight blows on the muzzle, and would then cover the injured part with his hand, or even hide his head with both his fore-feet: but he quotes a statement of Marten's, to the effect that the polar bear will sustain severe wounds on the head without fatal injury: and in the specimen now alive at the Zoological Gardens there may be observed a cicatrix on one side of the muzzle, which is apparently the effect of a severe blow. Pallas's young bear was exceedingly impatient at being touched about the ears or tail. He seemed a dull sluggish animal except when irritated; then, as if by a sudden impulse, he exhibited most prompt but confused motions, standing erect on his hind feet, and attempting to tear with his teeth. When threatened, he snarled with a hissing noise and a fierce expression of the eyes. When enraged and in combat, or unwillingly dragged by his chain, he uttered a graver and louder roar, but never howled like the common bear: he preferred fish and frozen meat to fresh meat, holding this food between his feet upon the ground as he tore it. He never refused, however, any carcase; and the Dutch observed the polar bears devouring the bodies of their own species that had been slain. But he ate sparingly and not greedily, licking his food a long time. For drink he swallowed snow in large quantities and with great avidity, and lapped water. He swallowed also hay and straw, which was afterwards found in a small quantity quite undigested in his stomach. When sleeping, he generally covered his nose with his right paw; and seemed most lively when the cold was most intense. From Pallas's observation respecting the condition of the vegetable substances in the stomach of his bear, it might be supposed that this species was purely carnivorous; but it must be remembered that these substances were of the most undigestible nature. In the Parisian menagerie a polar bear was fed on bread only, consuming six pounds in the day; and after subsisting on this diet five years, it was nevertheless found extremely fat. In its choice of habitation the polar bear differs most from the rest of the species. Instead of seeking concealment in the depths of forests, it prefers the floating iceberg and the open sea, its powers of swimming peculiarly adapting it to that sphere of existence. It rarely frequents the coasts of the Frozen Ocean, and does not descend to the eastern bound 76 MODE OF CATCHING THE ary of Siberia, nor to Kamschatka : and although it is met with on the north coast of America and in Hudson's Bay, it does not inhabit the islands between America and Siberia. They resort to Spitzbergen in great numbers, and sometimes are transported on the ice to the coasts of Iceland and Norway; but the inhabitants of these places destroy them as soon as they are detected. The part of Siberia where they are found to be most numerous is at the mouths of the rivers Lena and Janissea. The females go with young six or seven months, and are supposed to bring forth in the month of March. The number of their young is generally two, which follow their dam everywhere, subsisting on her milk until the winter that succeeds their birth. It is said that the mother carries them on her back when she swims from iceberg to iceberg. Nothing precisely is known of the longevity of the polar bear. It is hunted principally for its hide and fur, which from the softness of its texture is more esteemed than that of the brown bear. BARON HUMBOLDT'S DESCRIPTION OF THE MODE OF CATCHING THE GYMNOTUS, OR ELECTRICAL EEL. WHILE traversing the immense plains of the province of Caraccas, in order to embark at St. Fernando de Apure, and commence our voyage on the Orinoco, we stayed five days at Calabozo, a small town situated, according to my observations, in 8° 56′ 56′′ north latitude. The object of this visit was to study the electric eels (Gymnoti), an innumerable quantity of which are found in the neighbourhood. Indeed I was assured, that near Urituca a road, once much frequented, had been entirely abandoned on account of these electric fishes; travellers being obliged to ford a stream in which a number of mules were annually drowned, stunned by the shocks they received from the Gymnoti. In order to perform our experiments with more precision, we were desirous of having the electric eels in the house which we inhabited at Calabozo. Our host took all possible pains to gratify our desires. He sent Indians on horseback to fish in the pools. It was easy enough to procure plenty of dead Gymnoti; but an almost puerile fear prevented the natives from bringing them alive. We were afterwards, it is true, convinced of the difficulty of handling this fish whilst it still retained all its powers: but the dread of the common people GYMNOTUS, OR ELECTRICAL EEL. 77 is the more extraordinary in these countries, as they pretend that any one with tobacco in his mouth may touch a gymnotus with impunity. If the Indian had full confidence in this preservative, which is altogether false, why did he not avail himself of it to gain the ten francs which we had promised for every living electric eel that was brought to us? The love of the marvellous is so great among the natives, that they often maintain and spread abroad as facts what they themselves are far from putting faith in. It is thus that man thinks he must needs add to the wonders of Nature, as if Nature was not of herself sufficiently mysterious, grand and imposing. After three days of fruitless attempts in the town of Calabozo, during which we received only one eel alive, and that in a very weak state, we resolved to transport ourselves to the spot, and make our experiments in the open air, on the banks of the pools in which the gymnoti abounded. We reached first a little village called Rastro de Abaxo; thence the Indians conducted us to Caño de Bera, a muddy stagnant pool of water, but surrounded with a beautiful vegetation of the Clusia rosea, the Hymenea Courbaril, the large Indian figs, and Mimosa with odoriferous flowers. We were much surprised on being told that thirty wild horses must be caught in the neighbouring savannahs, to serve for the fishery of the electric eels. The idea of this mode of fishing, which they call embarbascar con caballos, (to stupify by means of horses,) is truly very odd. The word barbasco signifies the roots of Jacquinia, of Piscidia, or of any other poisonous plant, by the contact of which a great extent of water receives in an instant the power of killing, or at least of intoxicating or benumbing, the fishes. The latter rise to the surface of the water when they are poisoned in this way. As the horses driven here and there in a pool cause the same effect with respect to the frightened fishes, the natives, confounding cause and effect, call the two modes of fishing by the same name. Whilst our host was explaining to us this strange mode of catching fish in this country, the troop of horses and mules arrived. The Indians formed a sort of battue, and encircling the poor quadrupeds closely on every side, compelled them to enter the pool. I can but imperfectly depict the interesting spectacle which the attack of the eels upon the horses presented to us. The Indians, holding long canes and harpoons, place themselves around the pool; some of them climb the trees whose branches project over the surface of the water; and all of them by their shouts and their weapons prevent the |