18 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



trapper, who naturally does not hesitate to take the 

 fullest advantage of the information. 



Mr. Enos Mills in his delightful book, " In 

 Beaver World," which deals more particularly with 

 the Western States, fully corroborates the fact of 

 the existence of the ventilating flue. He says, 

 " But little earthy matter is used in the tip-top of 

 the house where the minute disjointed airholes 

 between the interlaced poles give the room scanty 

 ventilation." We are of course faced with the 

 question, does the beaver do this intentionally with 

 the realization of what it means ? Why not ? 

 What reasonable excuse can we have for doubting 

 his understanding of what he is doing. But we 

 must leave this till later when the subject of the 

 intelligence or instinct of the beaver will be treated 

 more thoroughly. At present, the lodge is occupy- 

 ing our attention. Much has been written about 

 these examples of primitive architecture and 

 ridiculous statements have frequently been made. 

 Pictures have appeared (as recently as towards the 

 end of the eighteenth century) which show the 

 houses with two stories, and with windows and 

 doors cut square. It will not need much intelli- 

 gence to see the absurdity of these " facts." First 

 of all, such openings would leave the inmates 

 entirely at the mercy of any passing enemy, and 

 secondly, animals avoid rectangular forms. So 

 the square apertures would be practical impossi- 

 bilities. 



