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riming as veal ; when boiled it (lands in need of 

 fome feafoning to give it a relim, but roalted has no 

 need of any thing- What is moft remarkable in 

 this amphibious animal is its tail. This is almoft 

 oval, four inches broad at the root, five in the mid- 

 die, and three at the extremity, I mean, however, 

 in large beavers only. It is an inch thick, and a 

 foot in length. Its fubftance is a firm fat, or ten- 

 der cartilage, much like the fiefh of the porpoife, 

 but which grows harder when it is kept for any 

 confiderable time. It is covered with a fcaly fkin, 

 the fcales of which are hexagonal, half a line in 

 thicknefs, from three to four lines long, and refting 

 upon each other like thofe of fifhes. An extrearn 

 {lender pellicle ferves to fupport them, and they are 

 indented fo as to be eafily feparated after the death 

 of the animal. 



This is in brief the defcription of this curious 

 creature. If you w r ould have a (till greater detail 

 of it, you may fatisfy yourfelf by looking into the 

 memoirs of the royal academy of fciences for the 

 year 1704. The anatomical defcription of the bea- 

 ver has been inferted in it, done by M. Sarrafin cor- 

 refpondent of the academy, king's phyfician in this 

 country, and expert in medicine, anatomy, furgery, 

 and botany ; and a man of very fine accomplifh- 

 ments, who diftinguifhes himfelf no lefs in the fu- 

 perior council of which he is member, than by his 

 abilities in every point relating to his profefiion. It 

 \s really matter of furprize to find a man of llich 

 univerfal merit in a colony. But to return to the 

 beaver. 



The true tefticles of this amphibious animal 

 were not known to the antients, probably, becaufe 

 they were very little, and lay concealed in the loins. 



They 



