' ( '53 ) 

 The fur is of two forts all the body over, excepting 

 at the feet, where it is very fhort. The longeft of 

 it is from eight to ten lines in length, and it even 

 goes fometimes on the back as far as two inches, di- 

 minifhing gradually towards the head and tail. This 

 part of the fur is harm, courfe, and mining, and 

 is properly that which gives the animal its colour. 

 In viewing it through a microfcope, you obferve 

 the middle lefs opake, which proves it to be hollow, 

 for which caufe no ufe is ever made of it. The 

 other part of the fur is a very thick and fine down, 

 of an inch in length at mod, and is what is com- 

 monly manufactured. In Europe, it was formerly 

 known by the name of Mufcovia wool. This is 

 properly the coat of the beaver, the firfb ferving 

 only for ornament, and perhaps to aflift him in 

 fwimming. 



Tt is pretended that the beaver lives fifteen or 

 twenty years ; that the female carries her young four 

 months, and that her ordinary litter is four, though 

 fome travellers have raifed it to eight, which as I 

 believe happens but rarely. She has four teats, two 

 on the great pectoral mufcle between the fecond and 

 third of the true ribs, and two about four fingers 

 higher. The mufcles of this animal are exceeding 

 ftrong, and thicker in appearance than its fize re- 

 quires. Its interlines on the contrary are extremely 

 (lender, its bones very hard, and its two jaws which 

 are almoft equal, furprizingly ftrong , each of thefe 

 is furnilhed with ten teeth, two incifive and eight 

 molar. The fuperior incifives are two inches and 

 a half long, the inferior upwards of three, follow- 

 ing the bending of the jaw, which gives them a 

 prodigious and furprifing force for fo fmall an ani- 

 mal. It has been further obferved, that the two 

 jaws do not exactly correfpond, but that the fupe- 

 rior 



