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  • The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine
  • May 1, 1855
  • Page 24
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, May 1, 1855: Page 24

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Page 24

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Untitled Article

judicious treatment was soon restored ( his health ) , kindness induced familiarity , and he lived to let his master into a few of those Masonic secrets which adult beavers rarely disclose to the observation of mankind . His name , —whence derived is not known , —was "Binny , " and when his master thus addressed him , it is recorded that he

answered by a little cry , and ran towards him . His master ' s hearthrug was his chosen haunt , and thereon he would stretch out his growing limbs , and bask beneath his owner ' s protection , provided with food and shelter , house and home . But his instinct was to build , and build he would : yet , even a beaver could not build without materials ; so they were provided , in the form of brushes , baskets , boots ,

sticks , a warming-pan , and other moveable chattels . These he arranged secundum artem , seizing the warming-pan handle at first with his teeth , and throwing it over his shoulder ; then advancing with it in an oblique direction to a chosen spot , he there deposited the awkward receptacle along with other long and large materials , crossing them over each other so as to form a solid frame-work projecting from the

wall , and in contact with it . The area thus formed , he ¦ then , filled up with the smaller materials at hand , brushes , rush baskets , books , boots , sticks , dusters , dried turf , & c . As the work grew in height Binny supported himself on his tail , which propped him up to admiration , and now , after laying on one material after another , he would sit up over against it , as if to consider what was to be done next . This

pause would sometimes be followed by changing the position of the materials , as though he felt that he could not trust his instinct with a warming-pan . Next a chest of drawers , standing on high legs , attracted his attention . He proceeded to wall up the spaces between the feet ( using the bottom of the chest as a roof to his house ) , laying

around the sides , m an even and orderly manner , bits of coal , hay , cloth , & c . The walls being finished , he proceeded to carry in sticks , cloths , hay , and cotton , and to make a nest ; and when he had done his work he would sit up and comb himself with the nails of his hind feet , cleansing his face from dirt and moisture , as a decent mechanic would make himself tidy and comfortable after a day ' s work .

Here was instinct blindly at work without object or design , and reason stepping in occasionally to check its needless toil . The case presents a curious example of the manner in which instinct is modified by domestication in the first generation ^ The animal instinct which suggests the selection of wholesome and proper food , is very curious and diversified . There is scarcely a

plant which is not rejected as food by some animals and ardently desired by others . The horse yields the common water-hemlock to the goat ; and the cow , the long-leafed water-hemlock to the sheep . The goat , again , leaves the aconite ( or wolf ' s-bane ) to the horse . The euphorbia is noxious to man , but is greedily devoured by certain inject tribes . The Indian buceros feeds on nux vomica , used in this country as a poison for rats . The leaves of the broad-leafed kalmia * The narrative , of which this is a condensed outline , appeared in " The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society . "

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1855-05-01, Page 24” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 4 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_01051855/page/24/.
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Title Category Page
AMERICA. Article 54
TRAVELS BY A FREEMASON. Article 11
ON THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE ENGLISH PEASANTRY DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. Article 17
LONDON AND ITS MASONS. Article 1
ANIMAL AND HUMAN INSTINCT. Article 21
THE EMPEROR'S VISIT. Article 28
REV. BRO. OLIVER, D.D., VICAR OF SCOPWICK. Article 30
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS. Article 31
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 63
NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 38
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 40
METROPOLITAN. Article 43
PROVINCIAL. Article 45
SCOTLAND. Article 51
COLONIAL. Article 52
INDIA. Article 54
TURKEY. Article 56
METROPOLITAN LODGE MEETINGS FOR THE MONTH Of MAY. Article 57
LODGES OF INSTRUCTION. Article 59
CHAPTERS OF INSTRUCTION. Article 60
Obituary Article 60
NOTICE. Article 62
ROYAL MEDICAL BENEVOLENT COLLEGE. Article 62
NOTES ON ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCH Article 6
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Page 24

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Untitled Article

judicious treatment was soon restored ( his health ) , kindness induced familiarity , and he lived to let his master into a few of those Masonic secrets which adult beavers rarely disclose to the observation of mankind . His name , —whence derived is not known , —was "Binny , " and when his master thus addressed him , it is recorded that he

answered by a little cry , and ran towards him . His master ' s hearthrug was his chosen haunt , and thereon he would stretch out his growing limbs , and bask beneath his owner ' s protection , provided with food and shelter , house and home . But his instinct was to build , and build he would : yet , even a beaver could not build without materials ; so they were provided , in the form of brushes , baskets , boots ,

sticks , a warming-pan , and other moveable chattels . These he arranged secundum artem , seizing the warming-pan handle at first with his teeth , and throwing it over his shoulder ; then advancing with it in an oblique direction to a chosen spot , he there deposited the awkward receptacle along with other long and large materials , crossing them over each other so as to form a solid frame-work projecting from the

wall , and in contact with it . The area thus formed , he ¦ then , filled up with the smaller materials at hand , brushes , rush baskets , books , boots , sticks , dusters , dried turf , & c . As the work grew in height Binny supported himself on his tail , which propped him up to admiration , and now , after laying on one material after another , he would sit up over against it , as if to consider what was to be done next . This

pause would sometimes be followed by changing the position of the materials , as though he felt that he could not trust his instinct with a warming-pan . Next a chest of drawers , standing on high legs , attracted his attention . He proceeded to wall up the spaces between the feet ( using the bottom of the chest as a roof to his house ) , laying

around the sides , m an even and orderly manner , bits of coal , hay , cloth , & c . The walls being finished , he proceeded to carry in sticks , cloths , hay , and cotton , and to make a nest ; and when he had done his work he would sit up and comb himself with the nails of his hind feet , cleansing his face from dirt and moisture , as a decent mechanic would make himself tidy and comfortable after a day ' s work .

Here was instinct blindly at work without object or design , and reason stepping in occasionally to check its needless toil . The case presents a curious example of the manner in which instinct is modified by domestication in the first generation ^ The animal instinct which suggests the selection of wholesome and proper food , is very curious and diversified . There is scarcely a

plant which is not rejected as food by some animals and ardently desired by others . The horse yields the common water-hemlock to the goat ; and the cow , the long-leafed water-hemlock to the sheep . The goat , again , leaves the aconite ( or wolf ' s-bane ) to the horse . The euphorbia is noxious to man , but is greedily devoured by certain inject tribes . The Indian buceros feeds on nux vomica , used in this country as a poison for rats . The leaves of the broad-leafed kalmia * The narrative , of which this is a condensed outline , appeared in " The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society . "

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