THE CANADIAN BEAVER 315 
of beavers must greatly depend on the power of 
adaptation shown by them in special cases. Mr. 
Martin seems to lean to the opinion that the creature 
is controlled by a dominant instinct, which makes its 
action almost automatic, and alleges this want of 
adaptability as an insurmountable obstacle to its 
domestication. The instances given of its behaviour 
in captivity hardly justify such a conclusion. A 
tame beaver, kept as a pet in a trapper’s hut, “used 
to lie before the fire as contentedly as a dog. It 
was not till winter set in that it became a nuisance. 
Poor old Bill McHugh’s house was well ventilated, 
an open chink between the logs being thought very 
little of by himself and his family ; but the beaver 
was very impatient of such negligence, and used to 
work all night at making things air-tight and comfort- 
able, without much discrimination as to the materials it 
employed. If Bill or his guests went to bed leaving 
their moccasins and tichigans drying before the fire, 
they were certain to be found in the morning stowed 
away in some chink or cranny ; and stray blankets and 
articles of clothing were found torn up for the same 
purpose.” That w r as contrary to our notions of 
housekeeping, but the beaver’s wash to keep out the 
cold w 7 as not more “ instinctive ” than that of any 
squatter’s wife on a Surrey heath. The preparations 
made to meet the severe cold of the winter of 1890 
by the beavers at the “Zoo” in Regent’s Park were 
an odd mixture of cleverness and what seems too 
like the stupidity of “ instinct.” Their “ lodge ” was 
