binny’s death. 
6i 
Binny’s Death. 
No other beaver ever came to be so famous as did Bin- 
ny, who arrived in England in the year 1825, “very young, 
being small and woolly,” and whose good hap it was to 
fall into the hands of W. J. Broderip, the naturalist, who 
made a pet, as well as a study, of him, and told the story 
so entertainingly in his “Eeaves from the Note-Book of a 
Naturalist.” To this day, not infrequently, reference is 
made in scientific meetings to the wonderful instinct which 
prompted this beaver to begin building a dam as compla¬ 
cently on the third floor of a house in Eondon as if he were 
in his native woods in Canada. Mr. Broderip wrote long 
before it had become the fashion to ascribe human emotions 
and impulses to representatives of the lower types of the 
animal kingdom, but the simple account of the death of his 
pet has come down to us, the record of a case of genuine 
homesickness. The story of Binny’s visit to the Tower, 
and its fatal consequences, as also of his clumsy play with 
his friend, the white fronted lemur, is as intesesting today 
as when it was first told, three-quarters of a century ago ; 
‘ ‘The houskeeper was very fond of Binny, always consult¬ 
ing his comfort and appetite making his bed warm and treat¬ 
ing him frequently to Sally Eunns and plum-cake, till he 
became the most plump and sleek of beavers; and the at¬ 
tachment was reciprocal. At last, on the writer’s depart¬ 
ure from Eondon for some time, he thought that Binny, who 
had grown excessively fat, would be better for exercise and 
change of air, and would be more comfortable if sent to 
pay a visit to the Tower of Eondon and expatiate there. 
Mr. Cops, the keeper of the lions, kindly undertook to take 
care of him. He was suffered to go at large and had every 
accomodation, but soon began to fall off on his appetite. In 
vain did his kind host try every delicacy to tempt his guest. 
With the exception of a few raisins, the dejected animal 
would eat nothing, and fell away visibly. Fearing the 
worst, and suspecting that it was pining for its home, Mr. 
