THE BEAVER. 43 



beneath ; the eyes are full and black, and the snout rather 

 blunt. 



The Harvest Mouse may be considered the smallest of 

 British quadrupeds. It is tt-o inches and a quarter long ; 

 its tail measures two inches ; and its weight is about the 

 third of an ounce, avoirdupoise. This little animal lives 

 entirely in the fields, but is sometimes brought into the 

 barns "with the sheaves of corn ; the number of young 

 produced at one birth usually amount to eight, and they 

 are placed in a small round nest, composed of the blades of 

 wheat. One such was found in the head of a large thistle ; 

 it was of the size of a cricket ball, perfectly closed, and 

 entirely filled with eight little mice, naked and blind. It 

 is supposed that the dam, in order to suckle her young, 

 must alternately have opened the place most convenient 

 for each. These little animals make their nests for breed- 

 ing only ; they burrow in the winter, forming warm beds 

 of grass under ground. 



THE BEAVER. 



THIS animal is far less remarkable for the singularity of 

 its conformation than for its astonishing instincts, which 

 some have exalted into a species of intellect. It has a flat 

 broad tail covered with scales, which it uses as a rudder ; 

 and its toes are webbed, a property which enables it to 

 swim with greater facility than to walk. The length of 

 the beaver is about two feet, and its tail eleven inches : it 

 has strong cutting teeth, short ears, and a blunt nose. It 

 is found in the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America ; 

 but it is chielly in the less frequented regions of the latter 

 that its habitudes and genuine instincts are most strongly 

 marked, and therefore form the properest subject for obser- 

 vation. In all countries, where civilized man prevails, 

 many of the inferior animals are repressed and degraded 

 in their character, but where he seldom intrudes, all their 

 native propensities are exercised, and appear in full vigour. 



