The Brown Bear is the commonest member of the whole family, and has been known from very early periods. It was, indeed, for a long time the only species known to Linnæus, who recognised no other kind up to the tenth edition of his great work, when he doubtfully admitted the Polar Bear. [Illustration: UNDER VIEW OF BEAR’S SKULL. _o.c_, occipital condyle; _p_, paroccipital process; _b.ty_, bulla tympani; _ma_, external auditory passage; _g_, glenoid cavity; _j_, jugular arch.] The Brown Bear is found in many parts of Europe--Norway, Russia, Central Europe, Spain, &c.--in Siberia, Kamtchatka, and Japan, and in a part of the Arctic regions of North America. In former times it was found in Britain, whence it was imported by the Romans, under the name of the Caledonian Bear, for the sports of the amphitheatre. “Ray quotes authority for the Brown Bear being one of the Welsh beasts of chase; and Pennant adduces the places which retained the name of Pennarth, or the Bear’s Head, as evidence that it existed in that principality. In the ‘History of the Gordons’ it is stated that one of that family, so late as the year 1057, was directed by the king to carry three Bears’ heads on his banner, as a reward for his valour in slaying a fierce Bear in Scotland.” It is, however, quite possible that this valorous Gordon may be a mythical personage, or that he may have lived at a much earlier period than that to which his exploit is assigned. The Brown Bear is an awkward-looking brute, with sprawling gait, heavy body, and no tail to speak of. It is about six feet long, and about three or three and a half feet high at the shoulder. Its fur is longish, rather woolly, and of a dark brown hue. It lives a solitary life, and, like many of its kin, has the curious habit of _hibernating_. During the summer, when food is abundant, it lays in a very large stock of provisions, thereby becoming immensely fat. This operation being satisfactorily performed by the beginning of winter, the Bear, finding that his foraging operations become more and more arduous, seeks out a resting-place, such as a hollow tree or a cavern, or if these are not to be had, makes a sort of rude hut or nest for himself of branches and moss, and then goes into winter quarters, and calmly settles down for a post-prandial slumber, which lasts until spring. He then emerges from his hiding-place, very thin and weak--altogether a mere ghost of his former self--and immediately sets about repairing his losses by as many hearty meals as he can possibly cram into the time at his disposal, or as the means at his command will allow. [Illustration: COMMON BROWN BEAR.]