The beaver has been found in fossil both in 

 Europe and in America. Remnants of the dugout 

 and the teeth of beaver, together with rude stone 

 implements of primitive man, have been found 

 in England. Near Albany, New York, gnawed 

 beaver wood and the remains of a mastodon were 

 dug up from about forty feet below the surface 

 in sediment and river ooze. Fossil beaver were of 

 enormous size. 



Coming down to comparatively modern times, 

 the animal as we now know him appears to have 

 been distributed over almost all Asia, Europe, 

 and North America. There was no marked differ- 

 ence in the individuals that inhabited these three 

 continents. The beaver is probably extinct in 

 Europe, but in July, 1900, I found a piece of 

 wood floating in the Seine that had been recently 

 gnawed by a beaver. At this time I was assured 

 that not even a tame beaver could be found in 

 Europe. It is still found in parts of Siberia and 

 Central Asia. That form which inhabits South 

 America is very unlike those in the Northern 

 Hemisphere, and may be called a link between 

 the muskrat and the beaver. 



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