THE DAESMAN, OR DESMAN. 
aberrations from the usual tenor of its way are only caused by its eagerness in seeking 
its intended mate, and are limited to the short season of matrimonial enterprise. During 
the remainder of the year the Daesman never voluntarily quits the water; and even if it 
makes little journeys from one pond or stream to another, it is generally found to make 
use of ditches or wet channels as the roads by which it proceeds; or, in default of such 
aqueous paths, to traverse the distance by means of a subterrancous tunnel. 
The scent which exudes from the Daesman is of a musky character, and so extremely 
powerful that it is locally known by the name of the Musk-Rat. It is of a most 
penetrating character, and so thoroughly saturates every substance that may have come in 
contact with it, that the odour is with the greatest difficulty removed. The pike and 
other predaceous fish which inhabit the same waters are accustomed to eat the Daesman, 
whenever they can succeed in capturing it, and, by the odour of their prey, their flesh 
becomes so tainted that it is unfit for human consumption. The glands which produce 
this powerful scent are placed near the tail, and arranged in a double row. 
DAESMAN, OR DESMAN.—Gdlemys Pyrendica. 
The food of the Daesman is chiefly of an animal character, as might be imagined 
from the arrangement and shape of the teeth, and the general habits of “the animal. In 
the stomachs of several of these creatures that have been dissected, were found the 
remains of larvee of various kinds, and of earthworms, but nothing of a vegetable nature. 
Yet it has been asserted by several writers that the animal diet is sometimes mixed with 
vegetable food ; and that the Daesman will on occasions make a meal of aquatic roots 
and of acorns, of which latter articles it lays up a store in the recesses of its burrow. 
Small fish and frogs.are known to form part of its food. 
The habits which have just been mentioned are common to the entire genus Galemys ; 
two species of which are known to exist, the one being the Russian Daesman, and the 
other the animal which is depicted in the engraving. 
The Russian Daesman is about seventeen inches in total length, the head and body 
being ten inches long, and the tail seven inches. On account of its aquatic propensities, 
and the peculiar aspect of its incisor teeth, the Daesman was formerly thought to be a 
rodent animal, and allied to the beavers, among which creatures it was classed, under the 
name of Castor moschatus, or Musky Beayer. Its fur is much esteemed on account of its 
rich colour, long silky texture, and warm character. The colour cf the Russian Daesman 
is brown on the upper portions of the body, becoming darker on the flanks, and fading 
suddenly into silvery white on the abdomen. The peculiar warmth of the fur is owing to 
