CASTORID.E. MAMMALIA. HYSTRICID.E. 



the middle or latter end of August, and never com- 

 plete it till the cold weather be set in." Further on 

 our author remarks, that " in respect to the Beavers 

 dunging in their houses, as some persons assert, it is 

 quite wrong, as they always plunge into water to do it. 

 I am the better enabled to make this assertion from 

 having kept several of them till they became so 

 domesticated as to answer to their name and follow 

 those to whom they were accustomed, in the same 

 manner as a dog would do, and they were as much 

 pleased at being fondled as any animal I ever saw. 

 In cold weather they were kept in my own sitting-room, 

 where they were the constant companions of the Indian 

 women and children, and were so fond of their com- 

 pany, that when the Indians were absent for any con- 

 siderable time, the Beavers displayed great signs of 

 uneasiness; and on their return showed equal marks 

 of pleasure by fondling on them, crawling into their 

 laps, lying on their backs, sitting erect like a squirrel, 

 and behaving like children who see their parents but 

 seldom. In general, during the winter, they lived on 

 the same food as the women did, and were remarkably 

 fond of rice and plum-pudding. They would eat par- 

 tridges and fresh venison very freely, but I never tried, 

 them with fish, though I have heard they will at times 

 prey on them." The flesh of the beaver is considered 

 to be a luxury by the Indians, especially if roasted with 

 the skin on. Sir John Richardson says that its flavour is 

 like that of pork, and that it sits heavy on the stomach, 

 requiring strong digestive powers for its assimilation. 

 The female beaver is provided with eight teats, and 

 usually produces about the middle or towards the end 

 of May a litter of from four to eight or even nine young. 

 The voice of the cub resembles the cry of an infant. 



THE MUSQUASH (Castor zebethictui), MUSK-RAT, or 

 ONDATRA, is a small kind of beaver, having a strong 

 musky odour, which some consider to be pleasant. 

 The body is fourteen inches in length, exclusive of the 

 tail, which measures about nine inches. The hind 

 feet are not webbed. The fur has a ruddy-brown 

 colour generally, being darker on the head and along 

 the central line of the back. The tail is flattish, rounded 

 at the sides, and blunt at the extremity. The Musquash 

 inhabits marshes and lakes, and the grassy banks of 

 sluggish rivers in North America, between the latitudes 

 of thirty and sixty-nine degrees. It feeds chiefly on 

 vegetable matters, but it would appear to be very par- 

 tial to fresh-water mussels. These animals construct 

 huts on a small scale, somewhat after the fashion of 

 their more powerful congeners, the huts being of simple 

 construction and proportionately small ; the interior is 

 lined with dry grass, the aperture of access being under 

 the water. They are much hunted by the Indians, who 

 spear them whilst they are snugly ensconced within 

 their humble dwellings. Several hundred thousand 

 skins are annually imported into England. 



THE COYPU (Myopotamus Coypus) Plate 16, fig. 

 51 is by some naturalists placed among the Hystri- 

 cidce, but in the arrangement and character of its teeth 

 it corresponds with the beavers. The tail, however, 

 is not compressed, but rounded and hairy ; while the 

 fifth toe of the hind feet projects beyond the web-like 

 membrane which conjoins the remaining toes. The 



fur has a dusky-brown colour generally, the tip of the 

 muzzle and chin being whitish ; whilst a yellow patch 

 occurs on either side of the head immediately beneath 

 the opening of the ear. The Coypu, which is nearly 

 as large as the common beaver, is an inhabitant of the 

 rivers and streams of South America, on both sides 

 of the Andes. It is not exclusively confined to fresh- 

 water lakes and streams, for Mr. Darwin states that it 

 is abundant in the Chonas Archipelago, living in the 

 bays and channels formed by the small and numerous 

 islands of that group. Like the musquash, it appears to 

 be fond of shell-fish. The flesh is said to be excellent 

 eating. By the South American traders the furs are 

 sold under the title of otter skins, several hundred thou- 

 sand being annually imported into Europe. 



FAMILY VII. HYSTRICID^). 



The Porcupines are readily distinguished by the pos- 

 session of stiff, rigid bristles or quills, similar to those 

 found in the Hedgehogs; their characteristic rodent 

 incisors, however, at once showing the order with which 

 they are properly associated. The molar teeth are 

 sixteen in number ; they have flat crowns, marked by 

 undulating lines of enamel, transversely disposed and 

 slightly raised above the dentine. The tongue is rough 

 and armed with horny scales. They have fourteen 

 ribs. The clavicles are almost fully developed, being 

 articulated to the sternum, but only loosely connected 

 to the scapula by ligamentous bands. They have five 

 toes behind, the anterior feet being tetradactylous, and 

 the rudimentary thumb merely represented by a warty 

 tubercle. The Porcupines inhabit the warmer regions, 

 both of the eastern and western hemispheres. They 

 live in burrows, emerging only to feed upon roots, young 

 shoots of shrubs and trees, as well as bark and various 

 kinds of fruit. 



THE COMMON PORCUPINE (Histrix cristata) Plate 

 16, fig. 52 is an inhabitant of Southern Europe and 

 Northern Africa, being, in the former continent, found 

 in Italy, Sicily, and Spain. The body is about two feet 

 long, including the short tail ; its colour is grizzled or 

 variegated, owing to the alternating shades of white, 

 brown, and black with which the quills are marked. 

 On the back of the head, the neck, and on the hinder 

 parts, the quills are represented by stiff bristly hairs ; 

 those on the tail form hollow horny tubes suspended 

 by slender stalks, which, though originally closed at 

 the ends, become subsequently opened by continual 

 use the animal delighting to shake them together 

 with the view of creating a peculiar rattling sound. 

 The longest spines are considerably thicker than an 

 ordinary goose quill, and are upwards of twelve inches 

 in length. The habits of the Porcupine are nocturnal, 

 and its food consists of vegetable matters, such as 

 roots, fruits, young shoots, and leaves. During the 

 coldest winter months it hybernates for a short period, 

 retreating within its capacious burrow, which has gene- 

 rally two or more apertures of ingress. Finally, it is 

 almost superfluous to remark, that this animal has no 

 power of shooting its quills, as some have imagined. 



THE CANADA PORCUPINE (Histrix pilosa) has a 

 tolerably wide distribution in North America, being 



