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THE

ZOOLOGICAL MAGAZINE.

THE POLAR BEAR. (Ursus maritimus, Pallas.) THE quadrupeds whose extremities are terminated by claws, and whose jaws are armed with the three kinds of teeth, viz. molares, laniarii, and incisores,-or grinders, lacerators, and cutters,―are for the most part driven by an innate ferocity of disposition to prey upon and destroy those animals which these natural weapons enable them to overcome.

The carnivorous propensity, however, exists among them. in different degrees. In some of the genera it can only be satiated with blood, and is active as long as any prey can be procured but these wholesale destroyers are happily the smallest and weakest of the order Fere. The larger and more formidable species again, as those of the Feline tribe, are limited in their geographical range, rarely extending beyond the tropics; they also devour the whole of their prey except the bones, and their hunger is accordingly satisfied with fewer victims than that of the insatiable weasel-tribe. At length the tendency to destroy ceases to be a prominent feature; and this we find to be the widely distributed genus to which our present subject appertains, which embraces the largest and most indomitable animals of the order.

Bears have in fact their molar or back teeth so constructed as to be better fitted for bruizing and masticating vegetable substances, than for cutting or dividing the raw fibres of an animal's flesh instead of sloping to an edge, as in the Feline tribe, and sliding upon those of the opposite jaw like the blades of a pair of scissors, these teeth have broad tuberculated surfaces, and are opposed crown to crown. Accordingly it is observed that by far the greater number of the species derive their sustenance from the vegetable kingdom.

The general form of the body corresponds to this destination, and is better adapted for digging and climbing than for executing those agile movements by which the more carnivorous tribes capture their living prey. Thus, instead of stealing lightly and softly on the extremities of the toes, the whole foot in both the fore and hind legs is applied to the ground *; and as the claws of the bear have no provision for retraction, their gait is frequently accompanied by a disagreeable clatter, very different from the noiseless tread of the cat.

* The tribe to which the bear belongs is called 'plantigrade.' Zool. Mag. No. 3.

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Nevertheless the bears still possess formidable destructive weapons; their jaws are actuated by powerful muscles, and are both armed in front with six incisors and two large pointed conical teeth, or laniaries. Their claws, although not indeed so sharp as in the tiger, are yet sufficiently capable, from the great power of the limbs, of inflicting severe lacerations: and the irresistible gripe of these animals,-their favourite and almost peculiar method of attack,-is proverbial. The courage of the bear corresponds with his corporeal powers; and and although he avoids a rencontre with man, and exercises considerable caution under circumstances not familiar to him, and from which danger might be apprehended, yet when compelled to fight, he becomes a formidable opponent, bringing his forces into the field with good-will and energy, and losing none of his natural advantages through fear.

Possessing an internal organization capable of digesting either animal or vegetable food, and locomotive powers adapted to a vast variety of circumstances, it may be readily supposed that the animals of the genus Ursus are widely distributed over the face of the globe. Indeed it will be dif ficult to point out any other group in the class Mammalia, inferior to man, so truly cosmopolite. Accordingly species of the bear, differing but little from each other in general form, are met with from the equator to the pole: and, notwithstanding the organized products which characterize these latitudes are of a nature so widely different, the bear contrives in both climates to satisfy his voracious appetite and grow fat.

In the arctic regions, where the vegetable kingdom is feebly represented by lichens and mosses, but where, on the contrary, the ocean teems with myriads of small mollusca, and at the same time exhibits animal life under its bulkiest forms,-here the polar bear is found laying wait for and combating the walrus and the seal; pursuing and overtaking in its own element the swift salmon; employing stratagem to surprise the smaller quadrupeds and birds which in summer-time visit the higher latitudes; less delicate also in his appetites than the more strictly carnivorous quadrupeds, this species does not disdain to feast on the stranded carcase of the whale; and being of a slothful disposition, he prefers this more easy and abundant sustenance to that which demands from him more active predatory exertions.

In the tropical regions, on the contrary, where vegetation is exhibited under the most luxuriant forms and in the greatest profusion, the bears live almost exclusively on vegetable matter; and it is interesting to observe that these species are the smallest of the genus, and are consequently best fitted

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for climbing; whilst the bears inhabiting the wilds of Siberia, the Rocky Mountains of North America, and the arctic icebergs, attain that superior size and strength which enable them to execute the acts of destruction necessary for their own support and existence.

Besides differences in size and colour, there are few characteristics by which the species can be distinguished from each other; and these marks of distinction are by no means prominent or easily perceived. Linnæus, who had never had an opportunity of examining the polar bear, doubted even its specific difference from the brown bear, which consequently was the only one admitted into his catalogue of species. It is true he has characterized in his last edition of the Systema Naturæ four species of Ursus; but then he associated in the same genus with the common bear, the badger, the racoon, and the glutton, all of which, possessing fewer teeth and longer tails, have been separated from the genus Ursus in the modern systems of zoology. In the same year that Storr effected this dismemberment, Pallas added two species to the restricted group, and satisfactorily pointed out the characters which distinguish the polar and the American black bear from the European species.

Soon afterwards a new era arose in natural history, when the knowledge of living species was found essential to the elucidation of those numerous extinct forms of which the fossil remains now alone exist; and it may be readily conceived what rapid strides the natural history of living animals has made, since to its own intrinsic attractions has been added the stimulus of a new and deeply interesting inquiry. Thus the immortal Cuvier observes, "From the commencement of my researches on the cave-bones, I perceived the necessity of determining the characters, as well external as osteological, of the living species of bears; and I made efforts to obtain the means. We possessed in our Museum but one skeleton of a bear, of an undetermined species. I was then obliged for many years to examine all the bears that I could procure, and to have their skeletons prepared. Our menagerie has in this respect been to me of the greatest utility; and on this, as on many other occasions, the scientific importance of such an establishment has been demonstrated." His own zeal and industry were met with corresponding ardour by his pupils abroad, and by scientific men of all nations; and the catalogue of species has accordingly been rapidly extended. They may be thus enumerated :

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