Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 6.djvu/301

Rh extremely docile and amusing. The name sun-bear (Helarctos) has been applied to the animal to indicate its habit of basking in the sun. The spectacled bear (Ursus ornatus), inhabiting the Cordilleras of South America, displays all the distinctive features of the Malayan species



except the semicircular white patches over the eyes which give it its name. The two are evidently varieties of the same species.

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the most widely distributed of all the species. It is found throughout Europe and Northern Asia, from Scandinavia to the Himalayas. In size it is superior to the black bear of America, but inferior to the polar bear. The length is generally from about five feet, and the weight five to six hundred pounds, although it sometimes attains to seven or eight hundred pounds. The color is brown, slightly variable in tint with different individuals, and with the same individual at different ages. The neck of the younger animal is in some cases encircled by a white collar, which disappears as age increases. The prominence of the brow is much more marked than in other species, the soles longer, the claws smaller. It hibernates during the winter in caves and hollow trees, and, where these are not to be found, in holes dug into the earth and covered with moss. From one to four cubs are produced at a time. The principal food of the brown bear is vegetable substances, honey, and the larvae of the ant. Like the black bear, it is an excellent climber, and wages relentless warfare against the bees. The taste for animal food seems to be not altogether natural, but when once acquired is never lost. An individual having tasted blood will continue to depredate on the neighboring folds until he falls a victim to the indignation of the farmer.

It will occasionally attack man, especially in the colder parts of its range, and is always dangerous and ferocious in combat. The Scandinavians say in regard to this bear that it "has the strength of ten