BEAVER* 
their house on that, as being the safest place : 
and by far the greatest number of houses are 
on the north shore, for the advantage of the 
sun. They have no opening from their house 
on the land side, and for these reasons — -Be- 
cause the frosty air would enter at that hole, 
and freeze up the water in the angle, whereby 
they would be cut off from their magazine; 
the wolves likewise, and other enemies, might 
enter thereat, and kill them; and the cold 
would be greater than they can bear. For, 
though they are provided with a thick skin, 
covered with plenty of long warm fur, they 
cannot endure severe frost; it being well 
known, that they die if exposed to it for a 
short time. 
" They are always killed by staking the:? 
houses, by guns, or by traps ; and not by hunt - 
ing them with Dogs, by Men on Horseback 
with Spears, as I have seen ridiculously de- 
scribed in prints. Nor do they ever castrate 
themselves to escape their pursuers ; for that 
part is not only of no use, but both those, 
their prides, and oil-bags — the two latter ves- 
sels being common to both sexes, and the prides 
only used in medicine known by the name of 
Castoreum 
