days. A Bear’s cub is not more “shapeless” than
the young of other animals.
The strength of the Bear is prodigious. Mr. Nilsson states that one has been seen in Sweden, carrying a dead horse in his fore paws, as he marched on his hind feet, along the trunk of a fallen tree that crossed a river. Instances have been known of Bears climbing on the roofs of cow-houses, and having torn open the roof to gain admittance, killing the cattle, which they then managed to drag through the hole in the low roof, and carry away. Notwithstanding his great weight, he climbs trees with ease; and the feats of captive individuals, in this way, constitute not the least amusing exhibitions afforded to the visitors of our modern zoological gardens.
The flesh of the Bear is eaten; the tongues, paws, and hams, are even esteemed delicacies; the fat is in request with the perfumers; and the skin with the hair on, is valued as a carriage-covering in winter travelling, especially in northern countries. The Brown Bear sometimes exceeds seven hundred pounds in weight.
Family II. Musteladæ.
(Weasels.)
Contrasting with the huge and uncouth forms of the animals we have just dismissed, the family now to be considered present, in their typical forms, the minute dimensions of the Insectivora. Very far from resembling them, however, in their feebleness, the Mustelade are marked by carnivorous propensities and powers in a high state of
