36 



CASTOROLOGIA. 



find the furriers introducing the manufacture of the tanned or dressed 

 skins into their business, and nutria, the skin of the Coypu, is to- 

 day among the best imitations of beaver, otter and seal. 



MYOPOTAMUS COYPUS— THE SOUTH AMERICAN BEAVER. 



Before considering the relative features of the beaver, which are 

 now in order for a comparative review, it may be better to glance 

 for a moment at the curiously anomalous "Water hog," which from 

 the standpoint of size is first among rodents, and though he is pos- 

 sessed of large incisor teeth, he lacks power of jaw, exhibits no 

 engineering skill, and cannot worthily be chosen as typical of the 

 Order. His affinities are evidently more with the pachyderms, and 

 his external features denote much appropriateness in the popular 



