THE BEAVER. #35

do not live in Europe in large companies or herds as they
do in America, but only in solitude, and in this state they
haunt secondary rivers, such as the Gard and the Gardon.
There are a few on the banks and islands of the Rhone,
but as these creatures are averse to noise, the splashing of
the steamers plying to and fro has driven most of them away.
They give a decided preference to such streams as are over-
shadowed by the willow, of the bark of which they are ex-
ceedingly fond. The beaver is also to be found as far north
as the Saone, in those valleys where there is peat-ground.
It lives in Spain, in Italy, and in Greece, but always solitary
and fugitive. This curious animal is not only called Castor
Americanus, but also Castor Gallicus, and not without reason,
since the fossil remains of the genus are sufficient to attest
their having been very numerous in France at some remote
period. The little stream of the Biévre derives its name
from its having been the habitat of these creatures; its
resemblance to the English name beaver need hardly be
alluded to. In Europe this amphibious animal does not build
those substantial and commodious dwellings which have ren-
dered it so celebrated, because the rapacity and spirit of
destruction so common in man have made it suspicious and
cautious.”
The American Writing of the American Beaver Dr. Godman
Beaver. says:—“Beavers are not particular in the site
they select for the establishment of their dwellings, but if in
a lake or pond, where a dam is not required, they are careful
to build where the water is sufficiently deep. In standing
waters, however, they have not the advantage afforded by a
current for the transportation of their supplies of wood, which,
when they build on a running stream, is always cut higher
up than the place of their residence, and floated down. The
materials used for the construction of their dams are the
trunks and branches of small birch, mulberry, willow, and
poplar trees. They begin to cut down their timber for build-