Castobid.'E. MAMMALIA. Hystbicida!:. 13S 
the middle or latter end of August, and never com- 
plete it tOl the cold weather be set in.” Further on 
our author remarks, that “ hi respect to the Beavers 
dunging in tlieir houses, as some persons assert, it is 
quite wrong, as tliey always plunge into water to do it. 
I am the better enabled to make this assertion from 
having kept several of them till they became so 
domesticated as to answer to their name and follow 
those to whom they were accustomed, in the same 
manner as a dog would do, and they were as much 
pleased at being fondled as any animal I ever saw. 
In cold weather they were kept in my own sitting-room, 
where they were the constant companions of the Indian 
women and childi’en, and were so fond of their com- 
pany, that when the Indians were absent for any con- 
siderable time, the Beavers displayed great signs of 
uneasiness; and on their retmm showed equal marks 
of pleasure by fondling on them, crawling into their 
laps, lying on their backs, sitting erect lilte a squirrel, 
and behaving like children who see their parents but 
seldom. In general, during the .winter, they lived on 
the same food as the women did, and were remarkably 
fond of rice and plum-pudding. They wordd eat par- 
tridges and fresh venison very freely, but I never tried 
them with fish, though I have heard they will at times 
prey on them.” The flesh of the beaver is considered 
to be a luxury by the Indians, especially if roasted with 
the skin on. Sir John Richardson says that its flavour is 
lilce that of pork, and that it sits heavy on the stomach, 
requiring strong digestive powers for its assimilation. 
The female beaver is provided Avith eight teats, and 
usually produces about the middle or towards the end 
of May a litter of from four- to eight or even nine young. 
The voice of the cub resembles the cry of an infant. 
THE MUSQUASH {Castor zebetliicus)^ MusK-KAT, or 
Ondatra, is a small kind of beaver, having a strong 
musky odour, which some consider to be pleasant. 
The body is fourteen inches in length, exclusive of the 
tail, which measures about nine inches. The hind 
feet are not webbed. The fur has a ruddy-brown 
colour generally, being darker on the head and along 
the central line of the back. The tail is flattish, rounded 
at the sides, and blunt at the extremity. The Musquash 
inhabits marshes and lakes, and the gi’assy bardcs of 
sluggish rivers in North America, between the latitudes 
of thirty and sixty-nine degrees. It feeds chiefly on 
vegetable matters, but it would appear to be very par- 
tial to fresh-water mussels. These animals construct 
huts on a small scale, somewhat after the fashion of 
their more powerful congeners, the huts being of simple 
construction and proportionately small ; the interior is 
lined with dry grass, the aperture of access being imder 
the water. They are much hunted by the Indians, who 
spear them whilst they are snugly ensconced within 
their humble dwellings. Several hundred thousand 
skins are annually imported into England. 
THE COYPU {Myopotamus Coy pus) — Plate 16, fig. 
51 — is by some naturalists placed among the Hystri- 
cidm, but in the arrangement and character of its teeth 
it corresponds with the beavers. The tail, however, 
is not compressed, but rounded and hairy ; while the 
fifth toe of the hind feet projects beyond the web-like 
membrane which conjoins the remaining toes. The 
fur has a dusky-brotvn colour generally, the tip of the 
muzzle and chin being whitish ; whilst a yellow patch 
occurs on either side of the head immediately beneath 
the opening of the ear. The Coypu, which is nearly 
as large as the common beaver, is an inhabitant of the 
rivers and streams of South America, on both sides 
of tlie Andes. It is not exclusively confined to fresh- 
water lakes and streams, for Mr. Darwin states that it 
is abimdant in the Chonas Archipelago, living in the 
bays and chahnels formed by the small and numerous 
islands of that gi’oup. Like the musquash, it appears to 
be fond of shell-fish. The flesh is said to be excellent 
eating. By tlie South American traders the furs are 
sold under the title of otter skins, several hxmdred thou- 
sand being annually imported into Europe. 
Family VII.— HYSTRICID^. 
The Porcupines are readily distinguished by the pos- 
session of stiff, rigid bristles or quiUs, similar to those 
found in the Hedgehogs; their characteristic rodent 
incisors, however, at once showing the order with which 
they are properly associated. The molar teeth are 
sixteen in number ; they have flat crowns, marked by 
undulating lines of enamel, transversely disposed and 
slightly raised above the dentine. The tongue is rough 
and armed with horny scales. They have fourteen 
ribs. The clavicles are almost fully developed, being 
articulated to the sternum, but only loosely connected 
to tlie scapula by ligamentous bands. They have flve 
toes behind, the anterior feet being tetradactylous, and 
the rudimentary thumb merely represented by a warty 
tubercle. The Porcupines inhabit the warmer regions, 
both of the eastern and western hemispheres. They 
live in bun-ows, emerging only to feed upon roots, young 
shoots of shrubs and trees, as well as bark and various 
kinds of fruit. 
THE COMMON PORCUPINE {Histrix cristata)—?M& 
16, fig. 52 — is an inhabitant of Southern Eiu'ope and 
Northern Atnca, being, in the former continent, found 
in Italy, Sicily, and Spain, The body is about two feet 
long, including the short tail ; its colour is grizzled or 
variegated, owing to the alternating shades of white, 
broivn, and black with which the quills are marked. 
On the back of the head, the neck, and on the hinder 
parts, the quills are represented by stiff bristly hairs ; 
those on the tail form hollow horny tubes suspended 
by slender stalks, which, though originally closed at 
the ends, become subsequently opened by continual 
use — the animal delighting to shake them together 
with the view of creating a peculiar rattling sound. 
The longest spines are considerably thicker than an 
ordinary goose quill, and are upwards of twelve inches 
in length. The habits of the Porcupine are nocturnal, 
and its food consists of vegetable matters, such as 
roots, fruits, yoimg shoots, and leaves. Dm-mg the 
coldest winter months it hybernates for a short period, 
retreating within its capacious burrow, which has gene- 
rally two or more apertures of mgress. Fhially, it is 
almost superfluous to remark, that this animal has no 
power of shooting its quills, as some have imagined. 
THE CANADA PORCUPINE {Histrix pilosa) has a 
tolerably Avide distribution in North America, beuig 
