NOTES ON BEAVERS. DO 



There are two livinjj species of beavers, the one iiihahitiiifi Europe 

 and Asia (Castor Fiber) beiiif,' still found in Siberia on the river 

 Pelyin, five havinfj been captured there so recently as 187<") ; and a few 

 colonies exist on the banks of the Weser, Rhone, and Rhine. Lord 

 Clermont in his " Guide to European Quadrupeds," published in 1859, 

 stated, " it is found in c;reatly reduced numbers on the Danube, Rhine, 

 and Rhone, on which last it inflicts considerable injury to the willow 

 plantations." It is rare in Russia, except on the Dwina and Petchora, 

 but numerous in Tartary and the Caucasus. 



The other variety ( Caxtor Canadc7^sig ) inhabits North America, 

 comprising in its range a district bounded on the south by California, 

 on the west and east by Vancouver's Island and Newfoundland, and 

 north by the limit of trees, some distance within the Arctic circle. 



Along with these two species lived in Pre-Glacial times a gigantic 

 beaver known to science as Cuvier"s. It did not, however, survive the 

 Glacial period. The smaller and more recent species possibly with- 

 stood the intense cold by migrating to southern Europe. The com- 

 parison in size between these two beavers, at one time contemporaneous, 

 coupled with anatomical characters, seems to preclude the possibility 

 of the larger being a more highly developed race of the smaller. 



The bones of beavei's have been dug up in the lower brick earths of 

 the Thames and under the streets of London ; and there can be no 

 doubt that at one time the beaver built its dam on this river and its 

 tributaxnes. Its remains were also found by Pengelly in Kent's Cavern, 

 near Torquay. 



In appearance the beaver is like a great rat — about two feet long 

 and one foot high, its body thick and heavy, weighing about 341bs. ; the 

 head is compressed and somewhat arched at the front, the upper part 

 rather narrow, the snout much so; the eyes ai-e placed rather high on 

 the head, and the pupils are rounded ; the short ears are almost con- 

 cealed by the fur; the skins (a good one when dried weighs about 

 21bs.) are covered by two sorts of hair, of which one is long, rather 

 stiff, elastic, gray two-thirds of its length, the remainder being tipped 

 with shining reddish-browu points ; the other short, thick, tufted, and 

 soft, being of diiTereut shades of silver gray or light lead colour; the 

 hair is shortest on the head and feet ; the hind legs are longer than 

 the fore, and the hind feet only completely webbed ; there are five toes 

 on each foot ; the tail is ten or eleven inches long, and, except the part 

 nearest the body, entirely covered with hexagonal scales ; it is flattened 

 horizontally, and nearly oval in shape. From a habit the creature has 

 of giving self-satisfied slaps with this organ, the idea has been enter- 

 tained that it uses it for a trowel ; but this is now known to be an 

 error ; it is certainly employed as a means of alarm. 



The incisor teeth are semicircular in shape, the enamel orange- 

 coloured and intensely hard. Before the introduction of iron the 

 Indians fixed them in handles and employed them as chisels for 

 carving wood and horn. 



These animals secrete a peculiar substance known as castoreum. 



