62 ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



as to need no comment memorials of them remaining in 

 every state, though the animal itself has ceased to exist in 

 them. According to the Indian accounts, the beaver builds 

 the north side of his house the thickest, the more effectually 

 to resist the cold. It feeds on the bark of trees, shell fish, 

 and the roots of the pond lily (nuphar luteum). Between 

 the skin and the roots of this animal's tail, lie two oval glands, 

 containing a pure strong oil of a rancid smell ; this was origin- 

 ally the castor oil of the early medicos, and had need to be 

 a costly drug. We all doubtless remember the story of the 

 beaver when pursued biting out those glands and casting 

 them before the hunter, alluded to by Juvenal, and handled 

 by ^Bsop in his fables. But it may be some satisfaction to 

 the consumer to know that the present drug, although anal- 

 agous in name, is prepared from a bean, and is only allied to 

 the animal oil in name. There is only one known species of 

 this animal. Its principal habitat now is the Hudson Bay 

 Territory ; and its skin is mostly relied upon by the Indians 

 as their means of barter with the white man. 



As it has been adopted together with the maple leaf as a 

 Canadian emblem, it is deemed advisable to append the 

 following account by Hearne, who studied the habits of this 

 animal for twenty years, in the Hudson Bay territory, 

 and which is pronounced by Dr. Richardson, who himself 

 had the best opportunity for ascertaining its truth, to be 



