The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-06-08
Ghe S4aturaIist.
Beavers and Seals at Home.

the first on account of his marvellous
building talents, and the second through
the caprice Of fashion, which has made
his skin most esteemed article Of personal
adOrnment. The beaver belongs to the
order Gtires or Rodeafia, and is valued
foe its fur and for a peculiar substance
called custOreana, formerly used as a med
icine for certain diseases. Some natural
lists regard the American beaver as dis
tinet from that of Europe aud Asia; but
the differences observable either externally
or anatomically are very inconsiderable,
and the opinion that . great difference ex-
lists in instincts aud habits appears to have
been too hastily adopted.
If there be only one species of beaver,
it is very widely distributed throughout
the world. In America it extends almost
as far south as the Gulf Of Mexico. It
once existed in the British Islands, where.
however, it has been long extinct, and it
has become rare in Europe, in many parts
of which it was once common. 1t has
also become rare in the United States.
disappearing rapidly as civilization advan-
ces, but it is still abundant in the wide
region Of lakes and rivers which lies to
the north and west of the settled parts of
America. Considerable numbers are also
found on the banks of the Obi and other
rivers of Siberia, and in Kamtchatka.
The beaver is usually at least two feet
in length from the nose to the root of the
tail, the latter being of oval form, about
ten inches in length, fully three inches in
breadth, and scarcely an inch in thickness.
These dimensions, are, however, sometimes
exceeded. The general form of the ami
NAL is thick and clumsy, thickest at the
hips, and then narrowing abruptly, so that
it seems to taper to the tail The head is
thick and broad, the nose obtuse, the eyes
small, the ears short and rounded. The
fur consists of two kinds of hair: the
longer hair is comparatively coarse, smooth,
and glossy; the under coat is dense, soft,
and silky. The incisors, or cutting teeth,
of the beaver are remarkably strong, and
exhibit in the highest degree the distine-
tive characteristic of the order to which it
belongs-the front of hard enamel, which
in the beaver is of bright orange color !;
the back of the tooth, formed of a softer
substance, is more easily worn down, so
that sharp, chisel-like edge is always
preserved, the bulbs being also persistent,
so that the teeth are continually growing,
as by their employment in gnawing wood
they are continually being worn away.
Each foot has five toes those of the fore
feet are short and not connected BY web;
those of the hind-feet are long, spreading
out like the toes of goose, and webbed
to the nails. In accordance with this re-
markable popularity the beaver in swim
ming makes use of the hind-feet alone,
the fOre-feet remaining motiOnless and
close to the body. Another characteristic,
to which nothing similar appears in any
other rodent. is the large horizontally fiat
tened tail, which, except at its root, is not
covered with hair, like the rest of the
body, but with scales.
The food of the beaver consists of the
bark of trees and shrubs aud the roots of
water-lilies and other aquatic plants. In
summer it eats berries, leaves, and various
kinds of herbage There is reason to
think that it never, as has been supposed,
kills or eat fish, Like some other rodents,
it lays up stores of provisions for winter !;
but these in the case of the beaver consist
chiefly of bark, or of the branches and
even the trunks of trees. Its extraordi-
nary powers of gnawing are exerted to cut
down trees of several inches in diameter
both for food and for the construction Of
its wonderful houses and dams. 4 tree
Of Is inches has been found cut down by
beavers, though they usually exhibit a
preference for smaller ones. When large
tree is cut, the branches only, and not the
trunk, are employed in their architectural
operations. These are very wonderful,
although the statement, at one time CON-
monty made, that beavers drive stakes in
to the ground, has no foundation in fact
and some of the particulars which passed
current along with it were equally fabu-
lOus. Still they are marvellous builders.
A recent English writer, in speaking OF
the wonderful constructions raised bv their
industry, says:-"Truly Canadians may be
proud of the beaver Its works give a
stranger who sees them for the first time
the idea of human intelligence, industry,
and forethought Their dams, even mis-
taken for the works of man, are construct.
ed with an amount of skill which leads the
visitor to form a high estimate of the local
engineer; and if he investigate more close
ly the habits and modes Of life of these
extraordinary animals, he will find in their
domestic habits, in their foresight in pro.
viding food for the morrow, in the way
they regulate their water supply SO that
in the highest freshet and the most pro-
tracted drought they are on the one hand
neither deluged nor on the other restrict
ed in supply, in the construction and for
ti6cation of their lodges, and finally, in
their system of government, which drives
the drones out of the community, and
regulates the size of the different house.
holds and villages according to the supply
of wood that can be obtained and stored
for winter use, he will find in all then
mode of life sagacity, a foresight, an in
telligence, and a system of organization
which elevate them above some races OF
savage men. Their influence ON the fea.
lures of the country constitute another
parallel with man. Many small lakes and