280 RODENTIA. 



length, exclusive of the tail, which is about ten inches 

 long. Its life is completely aquatic, both the feet and 

 tail aiding it in swimming, and its ears are nearly hidden 

 in the fur. The color of the fur of the Beaver varies 

 from a light to a dark chestnut brown, in some cases be- 

 ing almost white, and in others almost black. The grey- 

 ish under fur, which is about two-thirds of an inch deep, 

 and protected by stiff water hairs from two to three 

 inches long, is shorter and denser on the under part of 

 the body than on the top, forming a pelage that is the 

 perfection of water-proof covering. 



The Beavers are distinguished from other Rodentia by 

 the horizontally flattened tail, which is nearly oval in form 

 and covered with scales. Beavers have five toes on each foot, 

 those of the hinder ones being connected by a membrane; 

 and the next toe to the thumb, on the hind feet, has a double 

 and oblique nail. The four grinders, with their flat crowns, 

 appear as if formed of a bony ribbon, reflected on itself, 

 so as to show only one sloping edge on the upper row at 

 the internal border, and three at the external one ; in the 

 lower row it is exactly the reverse. As their chief food 

 is hard bark and other hard vegetable substances, their 

 incisors are very powerful, and as they are worn away 

 at the points, grow again rapidly from the roots. It is 

 with these teeth that they cut down trees of every size 

 anfl description. 



Before the advance of civilization had restricted its hab- 

 itat, and reduced its numerical strength, there were mil- 

 lions of Beavers on this continent where there are thousands 

 today. They not only furnished man with covering for 

 his body, and food for his nourishment, but they were the 

 principal source of his wealth; but instead of working for 

 the conservation of this important contributor to his com- 

 fort and prosperity, man has used so little judgment in 

 hunting the Beaver that it is almost exterminated. 



The Beaver, at one time, inhabited the greater part of 

 North America, and some are still found in New York 

 and Maine; but every year they are getting scarcer in 

 the country east of the Missouri River, and north of the 

 Rio Grande. Their range, which at one time extended 

 farther north than that of most other fur bearing animals, 

 is being constantly cut down ; and even in Alaska, where the 



