Though these two animals have been denominated musk-rats, and have
a few common characteristics, yet they ought not to be confounded;
they must also be distinguished from the Pilori, or Musk-rat, of
the Antilles; all three forming different species, and belonging to
different climates; the first, also called Ondatra, is found in Canada;
the second, or Desman, in Lapland and Muscovy; and the Pilori, in
Martinico and other of the Antille islands.
The Musk-rat of Canada (_fig. 115._) differs from that of Muscovy
in having all its toes separate, eyes very conspicuous, and a short
nose; whereas the latter (_fig. 114._) has the toes of the hind feet
united by a membrane, exceedingly small eyes, and a long nose like the
shrew-mouse. The tail of both is flat, in which, as well as in many
other characteristics, they differ from the pilori of the Antilles. The
tail of the pilori is short, and, like that of other rats, cylindrical;
the other two have long tails, and the head of the first is like that
of a water-rat, and the head of the second resembles a shrew-mouse.
In the memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, for 1725, we meet with a
very accurate description of the Canadian musk-rat. M. Sarrasin, a
correspondent of the Academy, dissected a number of them at Quebec, and
made some striking and singular remarks; by comparing his description
with our own, we have not the least doubt but the animal which he calls
the musk-rat of Canada, is the same with that now before us.
This animal is of the size of a small rabbit, and of the figure of
a rat. Its head is short, and similar to that of the water-rat; its
hair is soft and glossy, with a thick down underneath, like that of
the beaver; its tail is long and covered with little scales, like that
of the other rats, though of a different form, for instead of being
cylindrical it is flat from the middle to the tip, and rather round at
the insertion. The toes are not united by membranes, but furnished
with a long thick hair, which enables the animal to swim with ease. Its
ears are very short, but not naked, as in the common rat, but covered
with hair, both outwardly and inwardly; its eyes are large; it has two
incisive teeth, about an inch long, in the under jaw, and two shorter
ones in the upper; these four teeth are very strong, and by them the
animal is enabled to gnaw through wood.
The striking singularities remarked by M. Sarrasin, in this animal
are, first, the muscular force and great expansibility in the skin,
which enables the animal to contract and compress its body into a
smaller size. Secondly, the suppleness of the false ribs, which admits
a contraction of body so considerable that the musk-rat can obtain an
easy passage through holes where smaller animals cannot find admission.
Thirdly, the manner in which the female voids her urine, the urethra
not terminating, as in other animals, under the clitoris, but at a
hairy eminence above the os pubis, and in which there is an orifice,
that serves the urine to escape. This strange organization is found in
only a few species of animals, as rats and apes have three apertures;
and these two are perhaps the only animals who have a passage for the
urine distinct from the organs of generation: to the females alone,
however, does this singularity belong, for the conformation of the
males is the same with that of other quadrupeds. M. Sarrasin observes,
fourthly, that the testicles which, as in other rats, are situated
on each side of the anus, become exceedingly large, considering the
size of the animal, during the rutting season; but that over, they not
only change in size, consistency, and colour, but even in situation,
and with the seminal vessels, and all the organs of generation become
almost invisible. And, lastly, that the vessels which contain the
musk, or perfume, of this animal, under the form of a milky humor, and
which adjoin the parts of generation, undergo the same changes; that
during the rutting season they enlarge in a great degree, and then the
perfume is exceedingly strong, and may be sensibly distinguished at
a considerable distance, but at its expiration they become wrinkled,
decay, and at length entirely disappear. The change in the vessels,
which contain the perfume, is effected more quickly, and more
completely, than that of the parts of generation. These vessels are
common to both sexes, and at the above periods contain a considerable
quantity of milky humor; and the secretion is formed, and the humor
voided, nearly in the same place as the urine of other quadrupeds.
These singularities were worthy the attention of so able an anatomist
as M. Sarrasin. We have already mentioned similar alterations in the
parts of generation in the water-rat, the campagnol, and the mole; but
this is not the place for us to enlarge on the general consequences
which might be drawn from these singular facts, nor even on the
immediate references they may have to our theory of generation. These
we shall soon have occasion to present with more advantage, by uniting
them with other facts to which they relate.
As the Canadian musk-rat belongs to the same country as the beaver, is
fond of water, and has nearly the same figure, colour, and hair, they
have been often compared to each other; it is even affirmed, that, at
the first glance, a full grown musk-rat may be mistaken for a beaver
of a month old. But in the form of their tails there is a considerable
difference; that of the beaver being oval and flat horizontally;
whereas that of the musk-rat is of a considerable length, and flat,
or compressed vertically. In disposition and instinct, however,
these animals have a strong resemblance. The musk-rats, as well as
the beavers, live in societies during the winter. They form little
dwellings about two feet and a half in diameter and sometimes larger,
in which is often an association of several families. These habitations
are not for the purpose of resorting to, in order to sleep like the
marmots, for five or six months, but to obtain a shelter from the
inclemency of the weather; they are of a round form, and covered with a
dome about a foot thick; the materials for making which are herbs and
rushes interwoven together, and cemented with clay, which they prepare
with their feet; these huts are impenetrable by the rain, and secured
from the effects of inundations by being elevated on the inside, and
tho' covered with snow several feet thick in the winter these animals
do not seem to be incommoded by this circumstance. They do not provide
a stock of provisions for that season, but dig a sort of passages
round their dwellings, for the purpose of procuring roots and water.
As winter is not their season of love, they reap but little advantage
from associating. All this period they remain totally deprived of
light, and therefore no sooner has the mild breath of spring begun to
dissolve the snow, and uncover the tops of their little mansions, than
the huntsmen open their dome suddenly, dazzle them with the light,
and kill or seize all those who have not obtained shelter in their
subterraneous passages; but as their skins are valuable, and their
flesh not unpalatable, thither they are also pursued for slaughter.
Such as escape quit their habitations about the same time. They wander
about during the summer but always in pairs, for then is the time of
their amours; then it is that all their vessels expand, and feeding
largely upon the fresh roots and vegetables which the season affords,
they acquire a strong smell of musk; a scent which, though agreeable
to Europeans, is so disgustful to the savages, that they distinguish
one of their rivers, from being frequented by a number of them, the
Stinking River, and the animal itself the Stinkard.
They produce once a year, and generally have five or six young. Their
time of gestation cannot be long, as they are not in season till the
summer, and their young are full grown by October, when they seek for
shelter; they construct new huts every year, and are never known to
revisit their former habitations. Their cry is a kind of groan, which
the huntsmen imitate in order to allure them. So strong are their
fore-teeth, and so calculated for gnawing, that if shut up in a box,
they soon make a hole large enough to escape through, a faculty which
they possess in common with the beaver. They do not swim so fast, or
so long as the beaver, and are often seen upon the ground; they run
very indifferently, and in their walk they waddle like a goose. Their
skin retains the smell of musk, which renders it of little value to the
furriers, but their under hair, or down, is used in the manufacture
of hats. These animals are not very wild, and when taken young are
easily tamed; and are then tolerably handsome, for their tail, which
is afterwards long and disagreeable, is very short. They play with all
the innocence and sprightliness of young cats, and they might be reared
with ease but for their disagreeable smell.
The Canadian and Muscovy musk-rats, are the only animals belonging to
the northern regions which yield any perfume, for the odour of the
_castoreum_ (obtained from the badger) is highly disagreeable; and it
is only in warm climates that we meet with the animals which furnish
the real musk, the civet, and other delicate perfumes.
The musk-rat of Muscovy might, perhaps, present singularities analogous
to those of the Canadian, and not less remarkable, but it does not
appear that any naturalist has yet had an opportunity to dissect, or
examine it alive. Of its exterior form alone we can speak, as that
sent from Lapland, for the king's cabinet, was in a dry state, and
therefore I can only add my regret that so little is known about it.