In ancient times the beaver is supposed to have been found wild in this country, and its _skin_ was so valuable as to constitute the chief and most valuable fur which the island produced. The _hair_ is of two kinds, of which the upper is long and thick; and the lower, or that immediately next to the skin, is of dark brown colour, short, close-set, and as soft as down. In commerce a distinction is made betwixt fresh, dry, and fat beaver' skins. Of these the first are obtained from animals that are killed in the winter; the second sort from those taken during the summer; and the third or fat sort are such as have been carried, for some time, on the bodies of the American Indians, who, as it were, tan the skins with their perspirable matter. It is the fur of the first sort which is chiefly manufactured into hats; but the fat skins are esteemed the most valuable in consequence of the long hairs having been worn off, and the fine downy fur being left perfectly free from them. Each full-grown beaver yields about twenty-four ounces of fur. This, besides hats, is wrought into gloves, caps, stockings, and other articles of dress. The _skin_ of the beaver, as leather, serves for saddles, the upper leathers of shoes, gloves, the covering of trunks, &c. The Russians sell great numbers of these skins to the Chinese, but, probably, the greatest traffic in them is from North America. We may form some idea of the numbers which are exported from that country, when it is stated that more than 50,000 skins have been vended by the Hudson's Bay Company at one sale; and that, in the year 1798, no fewer than 106,000 beavers' skins were collected in Canada, and exported thence into Europe and to China. Besides their fur these animals furnish a valuable substance, which is known by the name of _castor_[1] or _castoreum_, and is contained in two little bags, called the inguinal glands, each about the size of a hen's egg. This substance is of a brownish oily consistence, has a disagreeable, narcotic smell, and a bitterish, acrid, and nauseous taste. The castor which is imported from Russia is generally esteemed the most valuable; though in many cases that from Hudson's Bay has been found nearly if not fully equal to it. Castor has been long celebrated as a remedy in hysterical complaints; and has been frequently used with advantage in languid habits and constitutions. The American Indians are partial to the _flesh_ of the beaver, and they use its _teeth_ for the cutting, hollowing, and polishing of wood; they also clothe themselves in beavers' _skins_, and, in winter, wear them with the hair next to their bodies as a defence against the cold. Beavers are only found in the most retired situations, always in the immediate neighbourhood of water, and generally in extensive communities. 70. _The CHINCHILLA_ (Muslaniger) _is a small quadruped of the rat tribe, which has a beautifully soft grey fur._