54 QUADRUPEDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Though the Beaver, in its savage state, subsists entirely on 

 vegetables, as bark and roots, yet, when tamed, it does not re- 

 fuse meat. 



Genus Fiber. Cuv. Geoff. 



Generic characters. Dental system ; incisors § ; canines £=£ ; 

 molars f=f ; = 16. Molars with a flat crown and zigzag plates 

 of enamel ; fore feet with four toes, and the rudiment of a thumb ; 

 posterior with five, edged with stiff and coarse bristles ; tail long, 

 compressed laterally ; naked, except a few scattering hairs, some- 

 what granulated. 



1. Fiber Zibethicus. Desm. Muskrat. 



Mus Zibethicus, Lin., Turton's, p. 79. 



Fiber Zibethicus, Harlan, Fauna Am., p. 132. Richardson, Fauna Bor. Am., 



p. 115. 

 Musk-Rar, Godman, Nat. Hist., ii. p. 58. 

 Figure ; Ibid., p. 21. 



Fur clear brown, tinged with red above, cinereous beneath. 



Description. Body thick, and somewhat oval ; neck short ; 

 ears short and partially concealed in a dense fur, and about as wide 

 as high ; eyes small, mystachial bristles numerous ; tail long, 

 somewhat linear, naked, compressed laterally, and slightly curved. 



Observations. This animal is still numerous in our marshes and 

 mill-ponds, though it is hunted with a good deal of avidity. It 

 makes holes or burrows in the banks, and sometimes builds 

 houses w T ith some ingenuity in the marshes, which appear like 

 little hillocks. From these habitations it may be driven by being 

 disturbed, and makes its escape by plunging into the water. The 

 fur of the Muskrat is quite fine, and is used in various ways. In 

 August, it is sometimes preserved on account of its pale color. 

 It is not till November that it is good, and it is still more valuable 

 in the spring. 



FAMILY IX. LEPORID^E. The Hare Family. 



Characters of the family. The family of the Leporidae is con- 

 sidered by naturalists as the best defined group of beings in the 



