102 RODENTS. 



On this point Mr. Martin writes that " the beaver-lodge is generally included in the 

 list of marvels reserved for the investigation of those who visit beaver-districts, and 

 yet no greater disappointment awaits the inquirer than the first inspection of one. 

 Somehow the minds of all lovers of natural history become affected by the fabulous 

 accounts concerning this structure, and it is a shock to stand for the first time 

 before a pile of twigs, branches, and logs, heaped in disorder upon a small dome of 

 mud, and to learn that this constitutes the famous lodge. Of course the superficial 

 glance does not convey all that can be learnt in connection with this work, but it 

 does most completely disillusionise the mind. On breaking through the upper 

 walls, the interior is found to be similar to the general type of an animal's sleeping 

 apartment, and has scarcely any distinguishing characteristic." 



Both dams and lodges are made more or less impervious to water by the 

 addition of a quantity of mud, which is plastered on by the beavers with the aid of 

 the fore-feet, and not, as is often supposed, with the assistance of the tail ; the latter 

 organ acting only as a rudder in swimming. The length of a beaver-dam may 

 occasionally be as much as one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards, and their 

 ponds may cover many acres. Frequently a formation of peat commences round 

 the edges of the ponds, and this may extend over the whole area, converting it into 

 a swampy tract known as a beaver-meadow. A considerable part of the city of 

 Montreal is built upon such beaver-meadows. 



In summer beavers generally forsake the neighbourhood of their lodges to 

 travel up or down the stream ; occasionally, as already mentioned, taking consider- 

 able journeys on land. With the advent of early autumn they return to their 

 winter-quarters, and at once set about the necessary repairs to the dam and lodges, 

 and the collection of a supply of food for the winter. 



Commercial Uses The beaver is hunted in North America not only for its valuable 

 and Hunting. f ur? ^^ likewise for the substance known as castoreum, which is 

 contained in two elongated glands at the hinder part of the body ; while its flesh is 

 also used as an article of food. Castoreum is a waxy substance with a peculiar 

 smell, and is used in medicine, although chiefly on the Continent. It sells, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Poland, from thirty-eight to forty-five shillings per lb., and no less 

 than 1486 Ibs. of this substance were sold in London alone in the year 1891. 

 Formerly the great demand for beaver-fur was for the manufacture of hats, 

 but since the supersession of silk for beaver-hair in this manufacture, the fur 

 has been used for more ordinary purposes. Mr. Poland states that the number of 

 beaver-skins sold by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1891 was 63,419, while in the 

 year 1743 upwards of 127,080 were imported into Kochelle alone. The price, 

 according to the same writer, varies from 5s. 3d. to 6s. 9d. per skin. The incisor teeth 

 of the beaver were used by the North American Indians, and also by some of the 

 ancient inhabitants of the Old World, as cutting instruments, the bases being fixed 

 into a wooden handle with the aid of twine or thongs. 



Before the advance of civilisation a large number of beavers were killed in 

 America by the native Indians for the sake of their skins and flesh, but the 

 slaughter was not such as to have any marked effect on their numbers. Some 

 appear to have been taken in wooden traps, but the favourite method was to attack 

 a lodge in the months of January and February. A party of Indians male and 



