1 66 CASTOROLOGIA. 



graphs taken at the time. Mr. Black had died about a year before, 

 and the beavers were placed under the charge of the game keeper, 

 Mr. John Wilson, who stated that the number of animals, as estim- 

 ated by the amount of work done, had been much exaggerated ; 

 that in 1883, when his lordship wished to send to the Fisheries Ex- 

 hibition specimens of the beaver (whose tail had been described as 

 " a true portion of a fish attached to the body of a quadruped"), 

 the enclosure was completely ransacked before a couple could be 

 secured. The trees in the enclosure, some measuring over sixty 

 inches in circumference, covered the ground in all directions giving 

 the place an appearance of desolation, which at first was most dis- 

 appointing. Two trees standing near the railing (shown in the en- 

 graving) having been partially cut by the beavers, the tops were cut 

 ofi" to save any damage which might have been caused by them 

 falling on to the railing ; unquestionably these trees woidd not have 

 falleji with their tops to the zaater. 



The question of the birth of young beavers is still the cause of 

 much speculation, and the most opposite opinions are stated with 

 dogmatic certainty ; yet, no satisfactory proof is offered to establish 

 the facts, and many interesting points remain to be settled. No 

 scientific proof has ever been offered to substantiate the claims as to 

 whether beavers are born with their eyes closed or open, and tes- 

 timony is about equally divided on this point ; but as to a second 

 litter in the season, the preponderance of evidence is unmistakably 

 against the theory, notwithstanding Mr. Black's expressed certainty. 



Universally, the beaver stands as the type of industry, and the 

 works we have described must have given conclusive proof of this ; 

 but unfortunately, fable has considered it necessary to create a 

 '■'■ paressezix'' in the beaver paradise, as if for the pleasure of banish- 

 ing it to outer darkness. Mr. Black saw beavers wandering about 

 the enclosure, evidently outcasts from the little colony, yet, he was 

 utterly without grounds for asserting that these creatures had been 

 banished because they were lazy. 



Cartwright's opinions on the same subject were as follows, 



