CASTOROI,OGIA. 29 



Spread from the south and the east, and as surely did the beaver 

 vanish in these quarters, till history records it remaining only in the 

 upper waters of Wales and the highland lakes of Scotland. The 

 beaver was, of course, regularly hunted, but the objects of the chase, 

 according to existing records, differed curiously from the incentives 

 which have prompted the wasteful slaughter of the American beaver, 

 for in the early and mediaeval days of Europe, the greatest value was 

 placed on the supposed medicinal properties, though the meat, espe- 

 cially the tail, was even then in much repute, and the wool was 

 esteemed for its fineness. In England the beaver had served its day 

 of domestic economj^ to the natives, furnishing food and clothing ; 

 then came a period, about the twelfth century, when the animal was 

 closely hunted for castoreum and the skin ; the large collection of 

 skins made this an article of export to the continent, where beaver- 

 felt was greatly in favor. Soon, however, we read that, ' ' Tivy 

 boasts this beast peculiarly her own," and then followed a few 

 spasmodic eiForts of husbanding the beaver, till finally the creature 

 passed from the records in 1526 and henceforth without opportunity 

 of studying the habits of the animal, tradition enlarged the unwritten 

 history, till we have the popular mind prepared to credit the most 

 fabulous stories concerning the American beaver, though both 

 species were singularly alike, and gave but little excuse for the 

 extravagant accounts which are so freely accredited to them. 



Africa has long been without a sign of its former associations ; 

 Europe claims one or two colonies as a matter of wonder ; Asia, 

 from the district of the Obi River alone, continues to furnish a few 

 skins for the fur market ; while North America remains the last 

 stage on which are witnessed the scenes of a doomed creature, whose 

 days have been lengthened to the present, only by contributions 

 levied upon the musquash and the coypu whose numbers have been 

 heavily taxed, and whose history has thus become a necessary part 

 of the present monograph. 



