98 THE AMERICAN BEAVER. 



tains upwards of seven thousand cubic feet of solid 

 materials, all of which were transported and wrought 

 into this structure by its industrious and ingenious 

 architects. 



The photograph of this dam, from which the en- 

 graving was made, was taken by Mr. James A. Jenney 

 in August, 1861, upon four plates, each eight by ten 

 inches in dimensions; and from one position, in order 

 to show the dam, the pond, and the background in 

 one symmetrical picture. As a preparatory measure, 

 the trees, for fifty feet immediately below the dam, 

 were cut down and removed, the under-brush was 

 cleared, and the weeds and grass, which were growing 

 through the dam, were pulled out, that the work 

 misrht be shown free from all obstructions. A. scaffold 

 for the instrument was then erected in front of the 

 great curve, about sixty feet distant from it, and 

 twelve feet high. It was my first intention to have 

 the dam photographed in four sections, with the in- 

 strument placed immediately in front of each, thereby 

 sacrificing the background in order to show the rela- 

 tive size of all the parts of the dam. The first two 

 plates were taken on this plan. But the other method 

 was finally substituted for the reason that it would 

 show the central portion of the dam perfectly, while 

 the imperfect and reduced appearance of the re- 

 mainder would, it was believed, be more than com- 

 pensated by the completeness of the representation as 

 a whole. These photographs, when adjusted together, 

 make a picture thirty-six inches in length by seven in 

 width, and, in all respects, faithfully and strikingly 

 reproduce the original in miniature form. I esteemed 

 it, at the time, peculiarly fortunate that I was able to 



