64 
NATURAL HISTORY 
BEAVER. 
The Beaver is about the size of a fox or 
a badger ; his head is short, ears very small 
and round, teeth very long, the under teeth 
standing out beyond its lips three finger’s 
breadth, and the upper about half a finger’s, 
being very broad, crooked, sharp, and strong; 
his fore-feet are like a dog’s, his hinder like 
a goose’s ; but the tail is the most strange of 
all: it is of an oval form, and covered with 
a scaly skin. 
The Beavers begin in June or July, to 
form a society, which continues the greutcsl 
part of the year. Thev form a company of 
two or three hundred. The place of meeting 
is where they fix their abode, which is 
always by the side of a lake or river. A 
number of them are employed at the fool 
of a tree, in gnawing it down, others separate 
the branches, while a third party is cutting 
other trees, which they form into stakes for 
their building, by sharpeningthem at one end. 
