RODENTJA. 133 



4th. The BEAVER FAMILY. 



Castoridae, (Gr. x^orwo, kastor, a Beaver.) 



The animals of this family have bodies covered with two sets 

 of hair, viz., fine and soft, down, and long and rather rigid hairs. 

 The tail is flattened and covered with rounded or hexagonal 

 scales. The hind feet are the longest ; the ears short. In hab- 

 its, these animals are aquatic and social. Some species have 

 webbed feet, and all a musky smell. The range of these animals 

 on this continent is more limited than in former periods, when it 

 extended from 680 to 30o. N. L. They are still common on the 

 Euphrates, and along some of the larger European rivers, as the 

 Rhone and the Danube. In England, they have not been seen 

 since 1188. 



Castor fiber, (Lat. Beaver.) The beaver is of a yellowish 

 brown color, and from two to three feet long; it has four incisor 

 teeth in both jaws; no canines, and sixteen molar teeth. The 

 toes of the hind feet are webbed. It has also a glandulous follicle 

 on the lower part of the body, producing an article called castor, 

 (not castor oil,) and which is used in medicine. The flattened 

 and scaly tail, it uses as a kind of paddle. By this, it is enabled, 

 when loaded with a mass of timber, to stem a rapid current ; and 

 by making strokes up and down with its tail, it can dive or rise 

 with great celerity : tradition says, but untruly, that the Beaver 

 uses its tail in plastering its habitation. It moves more easily in 

 water than on land ; the eye is small, better suited to twilight 

 than the glare of the sun. The external openings of the ear and 

 of the nostrils are capable of being closed, which is a divine pro- 

 vision suited to its diving habits, and its continuance under water. 

 The Beaver's great incisor teeth are his only tools ; and most 

 effective they are, for with them " he can divide a common sized 

 walking stick at a bite, as cleanly as if severed with a knife." 

 In doing his work, he goes up the stream from the site which he 

 has chosen for his dwelling, so as to have the advantage of the cur- 

 rent. Summer is the season ; night the time of his labors. The 

 skill, perseverance and toil which he exhibits in constructing his 

 habitation, and storing it with food, have given to this animal 

 great celebrity. In this, its instinct begins and ends ; in other 

 respects, it is very stupid, not comparing well with the Dog, Ele- 

 phant and other quadrupeds. The fur of the Beaver is highly 

 valued, especially for the manufacture of hats; and is an article 

 of extended commerce. In one year, (1808,) Quebec alone ex-' 

 ported nearly 127,000 furs, worth eighteen shillings sterling, 

 each. C. fiber, (Americanus,) is a variety of this animal. 



Fiber, (Illig^r.) Th3 animals of this genus have long, nar- 



