THE BEAVERS. 701 



large peach-tree, some of the bark of which had been eaten off by these 

 animals. We could not capture any of them at the time, owing to the 

 ramification of their galleries having escaped our notice while following 

 the main burrows. On carefully examining the ground, we discovered 

 that several galleries existed that appeared to run entirely out of the 

 garden into the open fields and woods beyond, so that we were obliged 

 to give up the chase." 



The Salamander, Gcomys pinctus, is also called the Southern Goffer 

 or Georgian Hamster. It does not remain underground during the 

 winter, but continues its digging throughout the year. It frequents the 

 high pine barren regions from the middle of Georgia and Alabama to 

 the south point of Florida. 



We have refrained from using the term "Goffer" in describing these 

 pouched rats. Goffer in the Southern States is often applied to a land 

 tortoise, and even in the North is used with great laxity for describing 

 various kinds of both rats and squirrels. 



THE BEAVERS. 



The family Castorid/E consists of only one genus — Castor. The 

 animals embraced in the genus have from the earliest times attracted 

 the attention of observers. Aristotle classes them with the Sea-otters. 

 Pliny speaks of the tenacity of the Beaver's bite, of its felling trees, and 

 of its possessing a fish-like tail. Solinus affirms that Beavers are found 

 only in the waters of the Black Sea. Olaus Magnus adds that they are 

 found in the Rhine, the Danube, and many rivers of Scandinavia. It 

 seems, from these accounts, thar the Beaver was once widely diffused, 

 but has been ruthlessly exterminated in most parts of the Old World. 

 Yet it exists in considerable numbers in Central and Northern Siberia, 

 and in spite of continuous persecution still is found in the northern dis- 

 tricts of America. 



GENUS CASTOR. 



The genus Castor comprises two species : the American, ranging 

 Kjver the whole of North America from Labrador to New Mexico, and 

 the European, which appears to be confined to the temperate regions 

 of Europe and Asia from France to the Amoor, over which extensive 

 region it doubtless ranged in prehistoric times. 



