of the Bcucer. 69 



tion ; lastly, whether, iu any localitj^-, even in the north of Scandinavia, 

 any thing can be observed to indicate at least a tendency to the construc- 

 tion of huts. 



The solution of all these questions will be attended with great interest, 

 for they are not only curious in themselves, but connected with many 

 other questions, some of which are of high philosophical importance. 



It has been long since asked why the American beavers are builders, 

 and those of Europe burrowcrs .'' Two replies have been given, and both 

 of them are found to be false. The attentive .examination of facts has 

 overturned what at first appeared plausible in both. 



Thus a very simple, and to appearance, very satisfactory explanation, 

 lias been deduced from the specific difierence of the American and Euro- 

 pean beavers. Each species has its distinct manners, as well as its pro- 

 per organic characters. In this light, the genus Castor would onl}' exhibit 

 between the two species differeuces analogous, although more decided 

 and remarkable, to those which we are accustomed to iueet with between 

 diflerent species of the same genus. But, in reality, it is not so. With- 

 out the necessity of reminding the reader how doubtful the specific dif- 

 ference of the American and European is, facts exist which effectually 

 destroy this explanation. The beavers of America are not all builders. 

 Those of Louisiana confine themselves, like our own, to digging bur- 

 rows, and, for the most part, do not live in communities. On the other 

 hand, an extremely curious observation, made by mj^ father in the 

 nienagery of the Museum of Natural History,* proves that our European 

 beavers themselves become builders, when circumstances put them to the 

 necessity of preparing a shelter; and that, when placed iu a situation 

 where they cannot dig, they dispose their materials, although very imjier- 

 fectly, into a building. The h^-pothesis, then, of a fundamental diversity 

 of instincts iu correspondence with the specific difference of American 

 and European beavers, falls to the ground before two facts, equally con- 

 clusive — the existence of burrowing beavers in America, and the demon- 

 strated possibility that the European beavers would form, in certain cases, 

 buildings of a more or less complicated kind. 



Anotlicr hypothesis, much more generally admitted, is that which attri- 

 butes the simpllcitj' of the beavers' works in Europe to their being so 

 closely in the neighbourhood of man, and the numerous causes of disturb- 

 ance to them arising from tliat circuuistsince. According to this view, the 

 beaver would naturall}' be a builder. He wcmld in former times live 

 everywhere in large communities, and in every place employ his indus- 

 try iu constructing houses similar to those now found in North America. 

 Tlie multiplication of man alone, the unceasing extension of his dominion 

 over the surface of the globe, would alone have obliged the beaver to 

 diminish his works more and mon-, and finally to take refuge in simple 



■" See Menioircs du Museum, tonv xii. pjigc -iWl. 



