170 Fretp Museum or NaturaL History — Zooéroey, Vor. XI. 
the industry as well as the intelligence of the beaver” (J. c., pp. 
199-200) 
In felling the larger trees the Beaver first cut two parallel grooves, 
or furrows, at right angles with the grain and about two or three inches 
apart and the wood between these furrows is split out with their sharp 
chisel-like teeth; the operation is then repeated to a greater depth 
and continued until the tree falls. The cut portion of the tree resembles 
the middle of an hour-glass and both ends of the severed part are 
conical. 
Much has been written of the wonderful sagacity shown by Beaver 
in their work, and while a great deal which is claimed for them is true, 
in some cases at least over-zealous and non-scientific observers have 
been prone to draw somewhat hasty conclusions. It has been claimed, 
for example, that a Beaver cuts down a tree in a way that will cause it 
to fall in any desired direction. This may or may not be true, but the 
facts do not seem to warrant such a statement. In early days I have 
seen a number of Beaver dams and have examined dozens of trees which 
had been cut down by the animals; some had fallen in a manner which 
would encourage such a belief, but on the other hand fully as many 
had not. 
The well-known castorum or castor of commerce is a secretion of 
the castorum glands of the Beaver, which has a peculiar penetrating 
odor and which is highly attractive to the Beavers themselves, so much 
so that it is used as a bait by trappers. The usual method of using it is 
to place a little of the fluid on the end of a twig which extends over the 
trap, the latter being placed under the water. In trying to smell the 
stick the Beaver steps on the trap and is caught. 
While it is probable that medical men of to-day would prefer to avail 
themselves of other remedies, it is interesting to learn that physicians 
of three hundred years ago considered the skin of the European Beaver, 
which is a close relative of ours, to possess decided therapeutic value. 
In writing of the European species in the early part of the seventeeth 
century, Edward Topsell* says: 
“The medicinall vertues of this beast are in the skin. . . A 
garment made of the skinnes is good for a paralitick person, and the 
skinnes burned with drie Oynions and liquid pitch, stayeth the bleeding 
of the nose, and being put into the soles of shoes easeth the gowt.” 
Specimens examined from Wisconsin and adjoining states: 
Michigan — Iron County, 5. 
Wisconsin — (O. C.) Sawyer County (skull), 1. 
* Historie of Foure Footed Beastes, London, 1607, p. 17. 
