330 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 



since such as could be given from the dried skins before me 

 would be only approximate. The ear is about an inch long, 

 measured from the notch in front, and about two-thirds as wide. 



Young (a very young individual, under two feet long, also 

 collected by Dr. Minor in the Aleutian Islands). — The coat is 

 comparatively much longer than that of the adult, loose, 

 rather harsh, and of a peculiar liufty character, with kinky 

 fibre. The naked muffle is much as in the adult, but quite 

 smooth 5 the ears are entirely hidden in the abundant wool of 

 the parts ; the hind feet scarcely show their proper shape ; the 

 tail is clubbed, rather thicker at the abrupt end than at the 

 base ; a decided constriction of the neck appears in the speci- 

 men as mounted. The feet are quite blackish ; otherwise the 

 animal is dull grayish-brown, everywhere strongly frosted 

 with hoary, lighter, and more uniformly brownish-white on the 

 head and neck, bleaching to dingy white underneath the head 

 and before the shoulders. 



To sum the salient external peculiarities of this species in 

 comparison with Lutra, it is only necessary to mention the 

 more massive form, the much shorter, more uniformly terete 

 and obtuse tail, and wholly peculiar structure of the feet. To 

 exhibit the characters of the species in the clearest light, I add 

 to the foregoing technical description the following account 

 from Meares's Voyage (1790), showing how the appearance of 

 the animal would strike an unscientific observer : — 



" The Sea Otter is furnished with a formidable set of teeth ; 

 its fore paws are like those of the River Otter, but of much 

 larger size, and greater strength ; its hind feet are skirted with 

 a membrane, on which, as on the fore feet, there grows a thick 

 and coarse hair. The fur varies in beauty according to the age 

 of the animal. The young cubs, of a few months old, are 

 covered with a long, coarse, white hair, which protects the fine 

 down that lies beneath it. The natives often pluck off this 

 coarse hair, when the lower fur appears like velvet, of a beau- 

 tiful brown colour. As they increase in size, the long hair falls 

 off, and the fur becomes blackish, but still remains short. When 

 the animal is full grown, it becomes of a jet [?J black, and in- 

 creases in beauty J the fur then thickens, and is thinly sprinkled 

 with white hairs. When they are past the age of perfection, and 

 verge towards old age, their skin [fur J changes into a dar^ 

 brown, dingy colour, and of course diminishes in value. The 

 skins of those killed in the winter are of a more beautiful 



