Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 6.djvu/297

Rh, render him one of the most conspicuous objects there. Observe his great broad head, with the small, cruel, brown eye, pointed muzzle, and powerful jaws, which, opening occasionally, display a set of alarming teeth. His fore-limbs, by their size indicating enormous strength, are each armed with live claws from four to five inches long, nearly straight. These claws are not needle-pointed like the cat's, but come to an edge like a chisel, and they are extremely sharp. His hind-limbs



are even more massive still, and are also armed with similar though shorter and more curved claws. His tail is so short that it is hidden by his coat. All this time he has been contemptuously eying us from the back part of his cage, but now he has become impatient of our scrutiny, and suddenly reaches toward us with open mouth, uttering a savage sound between a sigh and a growl. He then turns to gallop around his cage, and affords an opportunity to observe one of his most striking peculiarities. This is his curious, shambling gait. His fore-limbs go in a canter, while his head sways from side to side, and the rest of his body slides along upon the soles of his hind-feet. Mr. Darwin would be sure to call this sliding movement an inherited peculiarity, acquired by the grizzly's ancestors in sliding down the glaciated sides of the Rocky Mountains. He has it, whatever may have been the manner of its coming to him, and constant practice of it has worn the floor of his cage white and smooth. The grizzly is the largest member of his family; a full-grown male being from eight and a half to nine feet long, and the girth of the body is equal to the length. The average weight is about 800 pounds. The one we have been regarding is a fine specimen, being between seven and eight feet long. The color is not uniform, being in some cases of a dull brown, in others almost black, and in still others