NATURAL HISTORY. 2/1 



mild, tranquil, and familiar, though it seemed ra- 

 ther gloomy and melancholy. If we consider this 

 animal, therefore, in its dispersed and solitary state, 

 we shall find, that, as to internal qualities, it is not 

 superior to otlir animals. It has not more ingenuity 

 than the dog, more sense than the elephant, or more 

 cunning than the fox. It is rather remarkable for the 

 singularities of its external conformation than for any 

 apparent superiority of its internal qualities. Of 

 quadrupeds, the beaver alone has a flat oval tail, co- 

 vered with scales, which serves as a rudder to direct 

 its motions in the water. It is the only quadruped 

 that has membranes between the toes on the hind feet 

 and at the same time none on the fore ones, with 

 which it conveys its food to its mouth. It is the only 

 one which, while it resembles a terrestrial animal in 

 its fore parts, seems to approach the nature of an 

 aquatic being in its hind ones. 



The beavers begin in the month of June or July, 

 to form a society, which is to continue for the great- 

 est part of the year : they arrive in numbers from 

 every side, and presently form a company of two or 

 three hundred. The place of meeting is commonly 

 the place where they fix their abode, which is always 

 by the side of some lake or river. If it be a lake in 

 which the waters are always upon a level, they do not 

 build a dam ; but if it be a running stream, they 

 build a dam, or pier, across the river. This dam, or 

 pier, is often four-score or an hundred feet long, and 

 ten or twelve feet thick at the base. If we compare 

 the greatness of the work with the powers of the ar- 

 chitect*, it will appear enormous ; but the solidity 



* The larrest beavers wei:;b from fifty to siity pounds, and, in length, 

 are little more than Uiiee feet from tlie tip of the snout to the insertion at 

 the tail . 



