HATS. 45 



more dangerous enemy. It inhabits- Europe, 

 northern Asia, and North America, according to 

 Linnaeus. I have seen it in remote parts of the 

 country, and it is a deadly foe -to canals and mill 

 ponds. So far as I can judge from a hasty glimpse 

 in the boat, I have also seen the mus busarius 

 which was some time ago discovered in the inte- 

 rior of Canada, and which from the magnitude of 

 the claws of its fore feet, is formed for burrowing 

 in the ground. It is thus described in the fifth 

 volume of the Transactions of the Linnaen Socie- 

 ty — " Mus cinercus, cauda tereti brevi subnuda, 



gen iis saccatis, unguibus pahnarum maximis 

 fossoriis." 



But a fresh water lobster, a species of cray fish 

 which I have not yet seen, is said to be peculiarly 

 dangerous to mill dams by its perforations : It 

 inhabits the Genesee river in great abundance, 

 and is seen in til any other streams. If it establish- 

 os itself in the canal, it will do great injury. 



The most formidable foe still remains to be 

 noticed. The mus zibethieus, muskrat or mus- 

 quash : 1 have already seen his holes on the 

 bunks of the canal. lie is next to the beaver, the 

 greatest architect of the brute kind. Ho builds 

 bis house on bogs, in summer, of reeds, and aban- 

 dons it in winter, when he lodges in holes. lie 

 also makes a bole in the side of a pond, or brook* 



