HISTORY OF THE ADIRONDACK BEAVER. 39 1 



numbers twenty-eight species, and of these the largest, the beaver, is now 

 extinct. Attempts, however, are being made to reintroduce him into the 

 Adirondacks, two small colonies having recently been placed in different 

 parts. It is to be hoped that this experiment will prove to be successful, 

 for the beaver is the most interesting of the rodents, and everyone knows of 

 his tree-cutting and dam-building operations." 



One recent writer who has not fallen into the popular error is Mr. 

 Madison Grant, secretary of the New York Zoological Society and of the 

 Boone and Crockett Club. In his article in the same report, entitled 

 ' Notes on Adirondack Mammals, with Special Reference to the Fur- 

 Bearers," he says (page 327): 'The abundance of beaver is subject to 

 fluctuation, and the animals will sometimes almost disappear from an 

 entire district. They can readily be restored to the Adirondacks, and if 

 left undisturbed will rapidly multiply. Several pairs of beaver have been 

 recently liberated in the North Woods, and if this good beginning is followed 

 up, these interesting animals and their works will again be seen along our 

 streams and lakes. * * * A few still linger on in the North Woods." 



Literature of tf)e Object 



Innumerable short sketches upon the American beaver have appeared 

 in all countries and languages since the discovery of this continent. Some 

 of these have been published in the journals of the early explorers, some 

 in scientific periodicals and popular magazines, while others have appeared 

 as brief references in " Natural Histories " whose extensive scope made 

 full treatment of individual species impossible. 



The vast majority of these articles have been valueless except as 

 curious examples of the credulity, inventiveness or deliberate prevarication 

 of their authors; or, even when authentic, have been too brief to give more 

 than a superficial description. No animal of the New World has been the 

 subject of so much baseless romancing and color work. 



There are, however, at least two notable exceptions. The article upon 

 the beaver taken from the Journal* of Samuel Hearne, a Hudson Bay 



* A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort to the Northern Ocean. London: 4to, 1795, ch. VII, 

 p. 226. 



