"Prosper Alpinus, ' says envier, "attributes beers to Egypt, but species from actual observation. The Brown Bear, ag has been stated, appears to have been the only species known to Limeens. It is not indeed till Ida 10th edition that he shows any suspicion that the Polar Bear was distinct ; and in his last he only ventures to say, in a notice appended to the description of Ursus Aretos, " Ur.sus maritimus album major arcticus. Martens. Spit:L. 73. t. o. f. c. forte distinct:a species est, nobis non visa, capite longiore, cello angustiore." The habits, and many parts of its organisation adapted to those habits, of the Polar or Sea Bear, Muss l'olairo of the French, Ursa, maritim as of Erxleben, Urgus marin 10 of Pallas, Trans album of llrismon. Thalaretos maritimus of Cray, Recording to the testimony of all toologista, have confirmed the accuracy of Martens.
All inhabitant of the dreary regions which surround the North Pole with eternal frost, and of those coasts which are rarely free 7rom ice, the Polar Bear is alumat entirely carnivorous, in a state of mature. Animals of the land and of the sea, birds and their eggs, he dead and the living, are alike devoured. An admirable and diver, and of great strength, he chases the seal with success, and Is said to attack the walrus itself. Cartwright relates an anecdote in proof of his agility in the water. Ile saw a ]'olar Bear dive after a salmon, and the bear dived with success, for he killed his fish. Captain Lyon gives the following account of its bunting the seal :—" The bear na seeing his intended prey, gets quietly into the water, and swims until to leeward of him, from whence, by frequent abort dives lie dlently makes his approaches, and so arranges his distance, that at he last dive he comes to the spot where the seal is lying. If the poor minus' attempts to escape by rolling into the water, he Nis into the mar's clutches ; if on the contrary lie lies still, his destroyer makes a 14uverfill spring, 'kills him on the ice, and devours him at leisure." rho same author informs um that this bear not only swims with sapidity, but is capable of making long springs in the water. Sabine dates that he saw one about midway between the north and mouth lore; of Barrow's Straits, which are 40 miles apart, though there was to ice in sight to which he could resort for rest The floating carcasses of whales and other marine animals form a :onsiderable part of its food, and the smell of the burning kreng often brings it to the whale ships. Sir John Richardson says, that it does not disdain, in the absence of other food, to seek the shore in quest of berries and roots. The Polar Bear moves faster on firm ground than might be supposed from his appearance. Captain Lyon describes its pace when at full speed, as "a kind of shuffle, as quick as the sharp gallop of a horse."
This species is of a more lengthened form than that of the others, the head is very much elongated and flattened, the ears and mouth comparatively small, the neck very long and thick, and the sole of the foot very large. The fur is silvery-white tinged with yellow, close short and even on the head, neck, and upper part of the back ; long fine and inclined to be woolly on the hinder parts, legs, and belly. The sole of the foot exhibits a beautiful instance of adaptation of means to an end, for it is almost entirely covered with long hair, affording the animal a firm footing on the ice. The claws are black, not much curved, thick and short. Captain Lyon's crew found none of the terrible effects (skin peeling off, &c., &e.) from eating the flesh, ascribed to it by some of the earlier voyagers.
The accounts given of the size, strength, and ferocity of this animal by the early navigators are appalling ; but the accuracy of modern investigation has dissipated a good deal of the awe with which it was regarded, and has gone far to prove, that the excited imagination of some of the narrators has led them beyond the truth.
The gallant adventurers who conducted the modern northern expeditions penetrated far beyond the points formerly reached, and had opportunities of observing numbers of Polar Bears. The greatest length from nose to tail, recorded by Captain Phipps, is 7 feet 1 inch, the weight of the beast being 610 pounds. Sir John Ross records the measurement of 7 feet I0 inches, and the weight of 1160 pounds ; and Captain Lyon states, that one which was unusually large measured 8 feet 71 inches, and weighed 1600 pounds. The greater number of full grown individuals are spoken of as far inferior to these in dimensions and weight.
Two very fine specimens are at present living in the gardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's Park.
Pennant states that Polar Bears are frequent on all the Asiatic coasts of the Frozen Ocean, from the mouth of the Obi eastward, and that they abound in Nova Zembla, Cherry Island, Spitzbergen, Greenland, Labrador, and the coasts of Baffin's and Hudson's bays, but that they are unknown on the shores of the White Sea. Sir Edward Parry saw them within Barrow's Straits as far as Melville Island ; and, during his daring boat-voyage, beyond 82° N. lat. Sir John Richardson says, that the limit of their incursions southward on the shores of Hudson's Bay and of Labrador, may be stated to be about the 55th parallel. Sir John Franklin learnt from the Esquimaux to the westward of 31ackenzie River, that they occasionally, though rarely, visited that coast. Captain Becchey did not meet with any in his voyage to Icy Cape.