It-HKRRY. 



BEAYI.K. 



418 



note : " I lure stated, that the total quantity of animal matter 

 that He* within thu cavern cannot be computed at less than 5000 

 .ul. I.- feet. Now, allowing two cubic feet of dust and bonea for each 

 in.lni.lu.il animal, we shall have in this single vault the remains of 

 at leact 2500 bean, a number which may have been mpi>li<-.l in the 

 pace of 1000 yean, by a mortality at the rate of 2 J per annum." 



The remains of I'rtut tpdatu hare been found near Steyor, in 

 Upper Austria. Necker de Saussun- found them also in the cleft* of 

 the rooks containing iron ore at Kropp, in Carniola, 



The remains of boars have been detected generally in the ossiferous 

 caverns of the south of France. The bones found in the largest 

 proportion at the Grotto d'Echenox, on the south of Veaoul, by M. 

 Thirria, and examined by Cuvier, were those of I'rttu iptlttut. Bones 

 of bears have been also found in the osseous breccia at Pisa, Nice, &c. 



Urttu fpdtrtu (Blumenbach), Great Cavern Bear. The skull of thin 

 extinct specie* U considerably raised above the root of the nose, so 

 that the forehead, which presents two convex elevations, is a good 

 deal curved. Its size is about one-fifth larger than the largest of 

 those of the Brown Bear (L'ritu Arctoi), or of the Polar Bear. 



I', priteut (Goldfuas), has a smaller skull, and differ* less from the 

 crania of living bears than that of the preceding species. 



We ought not perhaps to conclude this article without referring to 

 those hybrids which were supposed to be the offspring engendered 



between a dog and a bear. 

 Even at the present day 

 tlnTu is an inclination to 

 believe in the existence of 

 such animals, but we need 

 hardly observe that it is 

 extremely improbable, to 

 use no stronger term, that 

 two animals, differing so 

 widely in their dentition 

 and general structure, in 

 the periods of gestation 

 and in their habits, should 

 produce a mule. An ac- 

 count of such a creature 

 is given in the ' Histoires 

 Prodigieuses extraictes de 

 plusieurs Fameux Autcurs, Greca et Latins, sacrez et prophanes, 

 div-Uees en Cinq Tomes, le Premier par P. Boaistuau, Tome Premier, 

 Paris, 1582.' A drawing of the animal is also given, of which we 

 present a copy. 



This niml the author states he saw in England in the reign of 

 Elizabeth, but the probability is that the author was deceived by the 

 English bear-wards and dog-fighters of Elizabeth's time, and that 

 some dog, selected for its bear-like appearance in certain point*, an 

 appearance aided by cropping the ears and tail, and other skilful arti- 

 fices, was palmed upon him and upon others as a hybrid engendered 

 between a dog and a bear. 

 BEAR-BERRY. [ARCTOSTAPHTLOS.] 

 BEAR'S FOOT. [HELLEBOBCB.] 

 BEARDIE. rCoBiTis.] 



BEAUMONTITE, a mineral, a hydrous crenato-mlicate of Qopp. T. 

 containing 15'8 per cent, of creuic acid. It is of a bluish-green t<> 

 greenish-white colour, and pulverulent when dry. It is found at 

 Chessy, dep. of Rhone, in France. ( Dana, Manual of Mineralogy.) 



BEAVER, the English name for the genus Cottar (Cuvier), one of 

 the order of rodent or gnawing animals (Kwlenlia, Cuvier, (llira, Lin- 

 nieua), with 2 incisors, or cutting teeth, and 8 molars in each jaw, 

 20 in all ; and particularly distinguished from all the rest of that 

 order by a broad horizontally-flattened tail, which is nearly oval, and 

 covered with scales. There are five toes on each of the feet, but those 

 of the hinder ones only are webbed, the webs extending beyond the 

 roots of the nails. The second toe of these last is furnished with n 

 d'.uKlc nail, or rather with two, one like those of the other toes, and 

 another beneath it, situated <>l>li.|uely with a sharp edge directed 

 downwards. There is also, as Sir John Richardson observes, a less 

 perfect double nail on the inner toe of the hind feet. 



The incisor teeth of the Beaver are broad, flattened, and protected 

 anteriorly by a coat of very bard orange-coloured enamel, the rest ol 

 the tooth being of a comparatively soft substance, whereby a cutting 

 chisel-like edge U obtained ; and indeed, no edge tool, with all its 

 combinations of hard and soft metal, could answer the purpose better. 

 In fact, the beaver's incisor tooth is fashioned much upon the lame 

 principle as that followed by the tool-maker, who forms a cutting 

 instrument by a skilful adaptation of hard and soft materials till he 

 produces a good edge. 



But the natural instrument has one great advantage over tin 

 artificial tool; for the former is so organised that as fast as it i- worn 

 away by use a reproduction and protrusion from the base takes place, 

 and thus the two pairs of chisel-teeth working opposite to each other 

 are always kept in good rcjuiir, with their edges at the proper cutting 

 angle. When injury or disease destroys one of these incisors, its 

 antagonist, meeting with no check to resist tie >n from 



behind, is pushed forward into a monstrous elongation. So hard in 



the enamel, and so good a cutting instrument is the incisor tooth of 

 the Beaver, that when fixed in a wooden handle, it wan, according to 

 Sir John Richardson, used by the Northern Indians to cut bone, and 

 fashion their horn-tipped spears, 4c., till it was superseded by the 

 introduction of iron, when the beaver-tooth was supplanted by the 

 English file. 



The power of these natural tools is well described by Lewis and 

 Clarke, who snw their effects on the banks of the Missouri. " The 

 ravages of the beaver," say they, " are very apparent ; in one place the 

 timber was entirely penetrated for a space of throe acres in front on 

 the river, and one in depth, and great part of it removed, although 

 the trees were in large quantities, and some of them as thick as the 

 uody of a man." 



Sir John Richardson thus speaks of this part of their operations : 

 "When the beaver cuts down a tree it gnaws it all round, .u 1 

 however somewhat higher on the one side than tin- other, . which 

 the direction of its fall is determined. Thu stump i* conical, and oi 

 such a height as a beaver sitting on his hind quarters could make. The 

 largest tree I observed cut down by them, was about thu thickness of 

 a man's thigh (that is 6 or 7 inches in diameter), Imt Mr. (iraham say* 

 that he has seen them cut down a tree which was 10 inches in 

 diameter." Beavers have no canine teeth. 



Ciulor Fiber of Linnseus (Cottar Amtricanut of F. Cuvier), the 

 American Beaver, is the animal of whose sagacity, and even social 



American i ''if 7Yo/r). 



polity, such wonderful tales have been told. The best account of this 

 animal is that given by Hoarne : 



"The beaver," he says, "being so plentiful, the attention of my 

 companions was chiefly engaged on them, as they not only furn 

 delicious food, but their skins proved a valuable acquisition, l-ing a 

 principal article of trade, as well as a serviceable one for clothing. 

 The situation of the beaver-houses is various. Where the beavers are 

 numerous they are found to inhabit lakes, ponds, ami ri\ .T.-. a* well 

 as those narrow creeks which connect the numerous lakes with which 

 this country abounds; but the two latter are generally chosen by them 

 when the depth of water and other circumstances are suitable, as they 

 have then the advantage of a current to convey wood and other 

 necessaries to their habitations, and because, ingenei 

 difficult to be taken than those that are built in standing > 

 They always choose those part* that have such a depth of water as 

 will resist the frost in winter, ami pre\ent it fr.>m fiec/.ing to the 

 bottom. The beavers that build their hnu.-cs in small rivers or creeks, 

 in wliirh water is liable to be drained ofl' when tin- Lack .supplies are 

 dried up by- the frost, are wonderfully taught by instinct t.. p 

 against that evil by making a dam quite across tin- 

 convenient distance from their houses. The beaver-dams diner in 

 shape according to the nature of the place in which they arc built. 

 If the water in the river or creek have but little niotiuti the dam is 

 almost straight ; Imt when the current is more rapid it is always maile 

 with a considerable curve, convex towards the stream. Tl 

 made use of are drift-wood, green willows, bin h, ami pn| 

 can be got ; also mud and stones intermixed in such a manner as mu-t. 

 : ' ribute to the strength of the dam ; hut there i no other 

 "i-.ler or method observed in the dams, except that of the work l,eing 

 carried on with a regular sweep, and all the part^l.eiiig made of e,[ual 

 strength. In places which have been long frequented !>.> ! 

 midistnrhed, their dams, liy t: ['airing, become a col id l> ank, 



capable of resisting a great force both of water and ice : 

 willow, poplar, and birch gen> root and shoot up. they t.y 



degrees form a kind of regular planted hedge, which I have 1MB in 

 some places so tall that birds have built their nests among the 

 branches. 



