Abstract
IN this well-illustrated volume the author has done for Ursus americanus that which he accomplished so successfully for U. horribilis in its fellow (see NATURE, vol. 82, pp. 423–4, 1910). The first fifty pages are devoted to a young black bear reared and tamed by Mr. Wright, while in the remainder the distribution and habits of the species are discussed in a manner indicative of intimate knowledge. Indeed, the author's acquaintance with the black bear appears to be as close as with its larger grey cousin. “Cinnamon” bears, it is shown, may be either of the black or the grey species, and the author is disposed to regard the glacier-bear (U. emmonsi) and the white bear of Gribble Island (U. kermodei) as specifically inseparable from the former. From among a number of interesting notes, attention may be specially directed to the author's observations with regard to the extremely small size and imperfect development of new-'born bears, especially those of the present species. The cubs of the black bear are at first “absurdly small and pitifully helpless, weighing only from 8 to 18 ounces each, according to the number in the litter, and are born about two months before the dam emerges from her winter quarters.” An old bear will weigh about 400 Ib.; and the pups of a 40 lb.,dog will be as large as the cubs of a bear of this weight. To explain this, the author suggests that a hibernating bear, which, of course, takes no food, could not nurse cubs proportionately so large as those of the dog; and, whether or no this be the right explanation, there can be little doubt that there is some connection between the hibernating habit and the diminutive size of the cubs.
The Black Bear.
By William H. Wright. Pp. vi + 127. (London: T. Werner Laurie, n.d.) Price 6s. net.
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L., R. The Black Bear . Nature 84, 327 (1910). https://doi.org/10.1038/084327a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/084327a0
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