DWELLINGS. 22$ 



animals similar to machines and impels them to 

 effect associated acts, without themselves being able 

 to understand them, and with a fatality and determi- 

 nation from which they can under no circumstance 

 escape. 



Beavers now only live in Canada, A few indi- 

 viduals may, however, still be found on the banks of 

 the lower Rhdne, in Cam argue, and on a few other 

 European rivers. Several centuries ago they existed 

 in the neighbourhood of Paris in considerable numbers. 

 The Bi^vre gained its name from the old French word 

 for Beaver, and its resemblance to the English name, 

 as well as to the German {Biber), is striking. In the 

 sixteenth century, according to Bishop Magnus of 

 Upsala, the Beaver was still common on the banks 

 of the Rhine, the Danube, and on the shores of the 

 Black Sea, and in the North it still exercised great 

 art in its constructions. In the twelfth century it 

 was found in Scotland and Wales. If we go back to 

 ancient times, we find that Herodotus mentioris that 

 the Budini who lived in the neighbourhood of the Black 

 Sea used the skins of the Beavers, which abounded 

 there, on the borders of their garments; and in the 

 time of Pliny the Beaver was so common there that 

 he speaks of it as the Pontic Beaver. Fossil remains 

 of the Beaver have also been found throughout 

 Europe in conjunction with those of the Mammoth 

 and other extinct animals. 



But the civilisation of the Beaver has perished in 

 the presence of Man's civilisation, or rather of his 

 persecution. In regions where it is tracked and 

 disturbed by Man the Beaver Hves in couples, and is 

 content to hollow out a burrow like the Otter's, instead 

 of showing its consummate art. It merely vegetates, 



IS 



