THE BEAVERS OF NORTH AMERICA 61 



necessitates a great deal of labour, as, in order that 

 they may be easily handled, the logs must be very 

 short, not longer in fact than a foot and a half or 

 two feet. The beaver knows the weight of wood 

 to a nicety, and he divides the logs and branches 

 into lengths which can be handled. This, one may 

 say, is instinctive. Perhaps so. But it looks un- 

 commonly like reasoning. It certainly requires 

 something very closely akin to intelligence to work 

 out the weight of a long prostrate log, so that as 

 the diameter decreases the distance between cuts 

 increases, with the result that each piece is of more 

 or less the same weight. There is nothing hap- 

 hazard about it, and though the beaver have no 

 callipers or measures, they seem to know by looking 

 at the log what proportion the length should have 

 to the diameter, and seldom do may make any very 

 great mistake in their calculations. Abandoned 

 logs are found, but whether left on account of their 

 excessive weight or from some other cause we 

 cannot say for certain. It is more than likely that 

 the wretched creatures become so absorbed in their 

 labours that they fail to detect the stealthy approach 

 of some enemy, and so fall easy victims, the forsaken 

 log remaining to mark the place of the pitiful 

 tragedy. The methods adopted by the beaver for 

 taking the logs down to the water are various. 

 When the branch is small, or long and thin, it is 

 usually carried in the teeth, the larger end forward 

 if it has many twigs, otherwise the smaller and 



