A N A T U R A L I S T. 55 



adjacent banks, numerous traces of burrows were 

 discoverable. It is not a little singular that this 

 animal, unlike all others of the larger gnawers, as 

 the beaver, etc. appears to increase instead of dimi- 

 nishing with the increase of population. Whether 

 it is that the dams and other works thrown up by 

 men afford more favourable situations for their mul- 

 tiplication, or their favourite food is found in greater 

 abundance, they certainly are quite as numerous now, 

 if not more so, than when the country was first dis- 

 covered, and are to be found at this time almost 

 within the limits of the city. By the construction 

 of their teeth, as well as all the parts of the body, 

 they are closely allied to the rat kind; though in 

 size, and some peculiarities of habit, they more 

 closely approximate the beaver. They resemble the 

 rat, especially, in not being exclusively herbivorous, 

 as is shown by their feeding on the uniones or mus- 

 cles above mentioned. To obtain this food requires 

 no small exertion of their strength; and they ac- 

 complish it by introducing the claws of their fore- 

 paws between the two edges of the shell, and tearing- 

 it open by main force. Whoever has tried to force 

 open one of these shells, containing a living animal, 

 may form an idea of the effort made by the muskrat : 

 the strength of a strong man would be requisite to 

 produce the same result in the same way. 



The burrows of muskrats are very extensive, and 

 consequently injurious to dykes and dams, meadow 

 banks, etc. The entrance is always under water, and 

 thence sloping upwards above the level of the water, 



