Marvels of the Universe 



89 



entirely ceased, while its employment in perfumery has been largely curtailed by more delicate 

 vegetable scents. 



In the old days, when " top-hats " were made of beaver-fur, the slang name for these decidedly 

 cumbersome articles of head- wear was " castor " ; this being exemplified by an old story current 

 in the days when Chief Baron Pollock was at the head-~qf the Court of Exchequer. On one occasion, 

 when a brother judge " 



was lea\'ing a house 

 after dinner, he was 

 asked whether a certain 

 hat was his " castor," 

 to which he wittily 

 replied : " No, it is 

 Pollock's" (Pollux). 



Beaver-fur, or, rather, 

 the soft under-fur, was 

 employed in the manu- 

 facture of hats at least 

 as earl}' as Queen Eliza- 

 beth's time, the material 

 being worked up into 

 felt, which had a rough, 

 hair}' coating on the 

 outer surface ; and when 

 the Hudson Bay terri- 

 tory was opened up, 

 beaver-skins formed by 

 far the most important 

 item in the local trade. 

 Indeed, so valuable and 

 important were they 

 considered, that they 

 formed a kind of token 

 coinage, represented b} 

 what were called 

 " beaver-taUies " ; the 

 value of other com- 

 modities being reckoned 

 in beaver-skins. 



Eventually the old- 

 fashioned beaver-hat be- 

 came — so far, at least, 

 as men are concerned — 

 replaced by the modern 

 sUk hat, which is, of 

 course, made on an en- 

 tirely different plan, the 

 base being of what is 

 called hatter's cloth, up- 

 on which is fastened a 



i'li'jlo hyl 



[.VVw )"/'^ Zoological Society. 



A BEAVERS' LODGE. 



These lodges are frequently built right out in the water, but here advantage has been take 

 of a tree to build against. Sometimes a'lodge'will be built against a high bank. 



