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carry me too far. Let it suffice, then, to observe here, that man, with all the pride of reason, may have been indebted for some of the most useful arts to their ingenious labours; as I have noticed in a former paper'.

The many wonderful circumstances observable in the instinct of brutes, have given rise to this saying of a modern philosopher, Deus est anima brutorum, God is the soul of brutes; an idea similar, but in a bolder form of words, to that already quoted from Mr. Addison. But many think it unphilosophical to attribute that to the immediate agency of the Deity, which is the result of laws, which he originally established; for he has been pleased to govern the material universe by the intervention of a variety of second causes; all, indeed, under the constant guidance of his overruling providence, and all ultimately leading to the contemplation and adoration of Him, the Great First Cause and Mover of all.

I shall conclude this paper with an excellent argument for a future state, which Dr. Young has deduced from the consideration of the imperfection of reason in man, and the perfection of instinct in brutes.

Reason progressive, instinct is complete;

Swift instinct leaps; slow reason feebly climbs;
Brutes soon their zenith reach; their little all
Flows in at once; in ages they no more

Could know, or do, or covet, or enjoy.

Were man to live coëval with the sun,

The patriarch pupil would be learning still;
Yet, dying, leave his lesson half unlearnt.
And why?

His immortality alone can tell.

No. LXIII, On the Principles of Association.

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THE FORCE OF INSTINCT EXEMPLIFIED IN THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE

BEAVER,

Were they as vain as gaudy-minded man,
As flatulent with fumes of self-applause,
Their arts too animals night boast.

YOUNG.

IN my preceding paper I intimated, that the bee, in particular, would furnish a copious subject, illustrative of the wonderful force of instinct. But as the curious operations of these industrious insects are within the reach of actual inspection, I shall be content, at present, to have recourse to the natural history of the beaver; a creature, whose sagacity is so astonishing, that we may well apply to it what the poet says of the elephant:

How instinct varies in the grov'lling swine,
Compared, half-reasoning elephant, with thine!
"Twixt that, and reason, what a nice barrier!
For ever separate, yet for ever near!

POPE.

Of all animals that live in society, none, indeed, approach nearer to human understanding than the beavers. We are struck with astonishment at the sight of their work; and, on reading their history, are apt to imagine it to be that of a species of men. We are at a loss to determine which is most wonderful in their labours; whether the grandeur and solidity of the undertaking, or the exquisite art, fine views, and general design, so excellently displayed throughout every part of their execution. A society of beavers seems to be an academy of engineers,

that proceed on rational plans, which they rectify or modify as they judge necessary; pursuing them with exactness and perseverance. They are all actuated by the same spirit, and unite their will and strength to promote one common end, which is invariably the general good of the society. In a word, we must be witnesses of their performances, before we can imagine them to be capable of them. The traveller that should inspect their habitations, without previous information, might think himself among a nation of savages.

The more remote from the tyranny of man, the greater seems to be the sagacity of animals. The beavers, in those distant solitudes where men have rarely passed, exert all the arts of architects and citizens. They build greater habitations than even the rational inhabitants of these countries can show, and obey a more regular discipline than ever man could boast. But as soon as man intrudes upon their society, their spirit of industry and wisdom ceases they no longer exert their usual arts, but become patient and dull, as if to fit them for a state of servitude.

The American beaver was long unknown to our most curious and inquisitive naturalists, or, at least, the accounts we have had were so blended with falsehood and error, as to render them altogether of doubtful authority. The memoirs of the royal academy of sciences at Paris, and the researches, afterward, of the celebrated Buffon, have entirely dissipated every doubt.

The hair of this animal, which covers the whole body except the tail, is not alike throughout; for there are two sorts mixed together, which differ not only in length, but in colour and thickness. Part of it is about an inch and a half long, and as thick as the hair of a man's head, very shining, and of a brown colour, inclining somewhat to a tawny. It is

of a close substance, and so solid, that no cavity can be perceived by a microscope.-The shortest is about an inch long, and is in greater plenty than the former: it is likewise smaller and softer, insomuch that it feels almost like silk. This difference of the hair or fur is to be met with in several animals, but more particularly in the beaver, the otter, and the wild boar; which, perhaps, may be the more necessary for these creatures, because they delight in muddy places, and the longest hair may serve to keep the mud from penetrating to the skin.-The beavers vary in colour. They are sometimes found of a deep black, especially in the north; and, in the Leverian Museum, there was a specimen quite white. As they advance southward, the beauty of their fur decreases.-Among the Illinois they are tawny, and even of a straw colour.

The head, from the nose to the hind part, is five inches and a half long, and five inches broad from the prominence of the two cheek bones. The ears are like those of an otter, being round, and very short: they are covered with hair on the outside, but are almost naked within.-The common length of a beaver, from nose to tail, is about two feet four inches.

It is commonly said, that these animals delight in the gnawing of trees; and, in reality, their teeth seem to be very proper for that purpose, especially those before; but they are not sharp-pointed, to serve instead of a saw, as some have affirmed; or, at least, they are not in the American beaver; but they are proper to cut with, like those of squirrels, porcupines, and rats. The length of those below is above an inch; but the upper teeth are not quite so long; and they slip on the side of each other, because they are not directly opposite. They are half round on the outside, and of a bright red or orange

colour. They are about a quarter of an inch in breadth near the jaw; but are somewhat narrower at the extremity.-Beside the teeth, called the incisors, they have sixteen grinders, that is, eight on each side, four above and four below, and they are directly opposite to each other.

The structure of their feet is very extraordinary, and evinces evidently, that Nature designed these animals to live as well in the water as on the land: for, although they have four feet like terrestrial animals, yet those behind are as fit for swimming as walking, the five toes of which they consist being joined together like those of a goose, but their forefeet are like the hand of a man. They are covered with hair on the outside, and the nails are long and sharp.

These animals are found in great plenty, all round Hudson's Bay, and as low as Carolina and Louisiana. They are not known in East Florida, nor in South America. Mr. Pennant says, that the species commences in latitude 60, or about the River of Seals, in Hudson's Bay, and is lost in latitude 30, in Louisiana. From Hudson's Bay and Canada, he traces them westward to 120 degrees of longitude, as far as the tract west of Lac Rouge, or the Red Lake. He thinks it probable, that they are continued to the western extremity of this great continent opposite to Asia; for the Russian adventurers got some of their skins on the isle of Radjak, which the natives must have had from America. However, they are certainly not found in the islands of the New Archipelago; nor yet in Kamtschatka, on account of the interruption of woods beyond the river Konyma. From this place, he doubts whether they are to be met with associated, or in a civilized state, nearer than the banks of the river Jenesei, or the Konda, and other rivers which run into the Oby. But, in

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