BEAVERS—THEIR WAYS. 11 
ali of which are broad, crooked, strong, and sharp ;be- 
sides those teeth called incisors, which grow double, are 
set very deep in their jaws,and bend like the edge of an 
axe, they have sixteen grinders, eight on each side, four 
above and four below, directly opposite to each other. 
With the former they are able to cut down trees of a 
considerable size, with the latter to break the hardest 
substances. Its legs are short, particularly the fore legs 
which are only four or five inches long, and not unlike 
those of a badger; the toes of the fore feet are separ- 
ate, the nails placed obliquely,and are hollow like quills ; 
but the hind feet are quite different, and furnished with 
membranes between the toes. By this meens it can 
walk,though but slowly, and is able to swim with as 
much ease asany other aquatic animal. The tail of this 
animal somewhat resembles a fish, and seemsto have 
no manner of relation to the rest of the body, except the 
hind feet, all the other parts being similar to those of land 
animals. The tail is covered with a skin furnished with 
scales, that are joined together by a pellicle; these scales 
are about the thickness.of parchment, nearly a _ line 
and ahalf in length, and generally of a hexagonical fig- 
ure, having six corners; it is about eleven or twelve in- 
ches in length and broader in the middle, where it is 
four inches over, than either at the root or the extremity. 
It is about two inches thick near the body, where 
‘t is almost round, and grows gradually thinner and flat- 
ter to the end. The color of the beaver differs accord- 
ing to the different climates in which it is found. 
In the most northern parts they are generally quite 
black; in more temperate,brown; their color becoming 
lighter and lighter as they approach towards the south. 
