194 CASTOROtOGIA. 



with a distinguishing crest, while all the paraphernalia of pageantry, 

 especially in tournaments, became a display of personal dignity. 

 At first the -distinction was for knightly fame or valor, but with the 

 tournament, the purity of the decoration or emblazonment was 

 abused, and brought about a debased and merely decorative her- 

 aldry, and the chivalric "bloody dagger" with its " / mak sicer" 

 gave place to flowing plumes and other favors bestowed at the tour- 

 nament by fair admirers. Many years later, on the establishment of 

 the Herald's College, a system was promulgated whereby any family 

 which could trace its connection with one which formerly bore 

 armorial distinction, was permitted to continue the use, as a family 

 seal, of the shield, crest, motto and supporters used by its sires. 

 A method of recording, blending and even creating ' ' coats of arms ' ' 

 has arisen, which, with the significance attached to each design, 

 practically constitutes the hieroglyphics of genealogy. 



The family or tribal ' ' totem ' ' of the North American Indians 

 served much the same purpose, though its origin was very differ- 

 ent. There is no doubt that totemism is much older than her- 

 aldry, and as the Indians employed the totem signs extensively in 

 the ' ' picture-writings ' ' which formerly decorated their robes, they 

 had probably more afiinity to the old Egyptian hieroglyphics than to 

 the modern heraldic emblem. As the origin and importance of In- 

 dian totems have been discussed in connection with beaver mythol- 

 ogy and folklore, it only remains to show the heraldic significance 

 of the beaver. It is interesting to note that the Indian word 

 widohtimoin, of which the Anglicised form is "totem," signifies the 

 thing with which a person or place is associated. 



In Clark's "Introduction to Heraldry" it is stated that "the 

 Beaver, an amphibious animal, noted for its extraordinary industry 

 and sagacity, is naturally very frequently met with in heraldry." 

 In Burke's " General Armory," reference is made to the beaver, as a 

 crest, granted to Hugh Beaver, Esq. It also is the crest of other 

 families, a list of eighteen names is given in Eairbank's " Crests of 

 Great Britain and Ireland." In a window of New Inn Hall, London, 

 on a silver shield, a beaver (black) stands erect, devouring a fish. 



