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so that the muskrat has to dive in going in and out. 

 These creatures are excellent divers and swimmers, 

 and, being nocturnal, are rarely seen unless by those 

 who watch for them at night. Sometimes we alarm 

 one near the mouth of the den, and he darts away 

 across the water, near the bottom, marking his course 

 by a turbid streak in the stream : occasionally we are 

 made aware of the passage of one to some distance 

 down the current, in the same way; but in both 

 cases the action is so rapidly performed, that we 

 should scarcely imagine what was the cause, if not 

 previously informed. Except by burrowing into and 

 spoiling the banks, they are not productive of much 

 evil, their food consisting principally of the roots of 

 aquatic plants, in addition to the shell-fish. The 

 musky odour which gives rise to their common name 

 is caused by glandular organs placed near the tail, 

 filled with a viscid and powerfully musky fluid, 

 whose uses we know but little of, though it is 

 thought to be intended as a guide by which these 

 creatures may discover each other. This inference 

 is strengthened by finding some such contrivance in 

 different races of animals, in various modifications. 

 A great number carry it in pouches similar to those 

 just mentioned. Some, as the musk animal, have 

 the pouch under the belly; the shrew has the glands 

 on the side ; the camel on the back of the neck the 

 crocodile under the throat, etc. At least no other 

 use has ever been assigned for this apparatus, and in 

 all creatures possessing it the arrangement seems to 

 be adapted peculiarly to the habits of the animals. 



