CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 7. RODENTIA. 381 



walking-stick at a single effort of its teeth. Lewis and Clark, who saw their effects on the banks 

 of the Missouri, make the following statement: "The ravages of the beaver are very apparent; 

 in one place the timber was entirely penetrated for a space of three acres in front on the river, 

 and one in depth, and great part of it removed, although the trees were in large quantities, and 

 some of them as thick as the body of a man.'' 



Richardson thus speaks of this part of their operations : "When the beaver cuts down a tree it 

 o-naws it all round, cutting it, however, somewhat higher on the one side than the other, by which 

 the direction of its fall is determined. The stump is conical, and of such a height as a beaver 

 sitting on his hind-quarters could make. The largest tree I observed cut down by them was 

 about the thickness of a man's thigh— that is, six or seven inches in diameter — but Mr. Graham 

 says that he has seen them cut down a tree which was ten inches in diameter." This is, no 

 doubt, an exaggeration, or at least very uncommon. Beavers have no canine teeth. 



The length of the head and body of a beaver is thirty-six to forty inches; the tail is about 

 eleven inches. In the pairing season it utters a kind of cry resembling a faint groan. Owing to 

 the shortness and inequality of its limbs, the gait is waddling and ungraceful ; this effect is in- 

 creased by the clumsiness of its figure, and the difficulty it seems to have in dragging after it its* 

 cumbrous tail. The latter, however, becomes useful in the water, where the animal spends the 

 greater part of its time, sometimes being employed as a paddle, and sometimes as a rudder. The 

 color is a reddish-brown ; there arc varieties, however, some of which are flaxen-colored, and some 

 black. There are albinos which are white. The scientific names of these are, C. f. varia, C. 

 f. nigra, and C. f. alba. 



The young of the beaver, five to seven at a birth, are produced in April or May, the eyes being 

 open; in a month, they follow their mother into the water, but remain with her a year, sometimes 

 two years, being kept in a place of safety. Sometimes a dozen beavers dwell together. They 

 are caught at all seasons, being fat in autumn, but falling off in winter. They have been found 

 weighing from thirty to sixty pounds. Their common food is the bark of trees — birch, willow, 

 and cotton-wood — and the roots of aquatic plants, especially the pond-lily ; in summer they wan- 

 der some distance from the water, and feed on berries, leaves, and various kinds of herbage. They 

 are said occasionally to devour fish, but this is not probable. Their fur consists of two sorts, one 

 , composed of long, stiff, and elastic hair; the other, of a fine, soft, compact down, which gives ex- 

 traordinary value to the skin. 



It appears that among the beavers there are some lazy ones which do not, or will not, assist in 

 the general labors of the association. These, as might be expected, are all males, and are beaten 

 off by the community, and often are injured by having their tails cut off, and by other wounds. 

 It has been suggested that they are disappointed lovers, and strange as it may appear, there seems 

 some reason for this idea. Pennant says they are called old bachelors. They do not build dams, 

 but dig holes from the water, running obliquely toward the surface of the ground. From these 

 they emerge, when necessity requires, to obtain food. They do not seem to set much value on 

 life, and are easily caught by the hunters and trappers. 



The drug called castoreum, and which is an unctuous substance, of a strong, musky odor, is ob- 

 tained from two glandular sacks, situated near the anus. On this subject Richardson says: "I 

 have not had an opportunity of dissecting a beaver, but I was informed by the hunters that both 

 males and females are furnished with one pair of little bags containing castoreum, and also with 

 i second pair of smaller ones betwixt the former and the amis, which are filled with a white fath 

 natter, of the consistence of butter, and exhaling a strong odor. This latter substance is not an 

 irticlc of trade; but the Indians occasionally eat it, and also mingle a little with their tobacco 

 vhen they smoke. I did not learn the purpose that this secretion is destined to serve in -the 

 •conomy of the animal; but from the circumstance of small ponds, when inhabited by beavers. 

 peing tainted with its peculiar odor, it seems probable that it affords a dressing to the fur of these 

 quatic animals. The castoreum in its recent state is of an orange-color, which deepens, as it 

 ries, into bright reddish-brown. During the drying, which is allowed to go on in the shad.-, ;i 

 ummy matter exudes through the sack, which the Indians delight in eating. The male and fe- 



