OTTAR OF ROSES OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 



371 



silting- with a number of officers of the army, navy, 

 nrd revenue. As soon as he entered, an altercation 

 arose, which was quickly terminated by a blow from 

 Robinson's cane. Otis immediately returned it with 

 a weapon of the same kind, when the lights were 

 extinguished, and he was obliged to defend himself, 

 single-handed, against numbers. After some time, 

 the combatants were separated. Robinson retreated 

 by a back passage, and Otis was led home, wounded 

 and bleeding. He received a deep cut on his head ; 

 and to this has been partly attributed the derange- 

 ment under which he afterwards laboured. Soon af- 

 ter this transaction, he instituted an action against 

 Robinson, and obtained an award of 2000 sterling 

 damages, which, however, he gave up on receiving a 

 written apology, in which the defendant acknow- 

 ledged his fault, and begged his pardon. In 1770, 

 he retired into the country on account of his health. 

 At the election in 1771, he was again chosen arepre- 

 sentative ; but this was the last year that he took a 

 part in public concerns, except occasionally to ap- 

 pear at a town-meeting. He withdrew also, almost 

 entirely, from the practice of his profession. His 

 mind became seriously affected, and continued so, 

 with some lucid intervals, until his death. Some- 

 times he was in a frenzied state ; at others, he exhi- 

 bited rather the eccentricity of a humourist than 

 absolute derangement. The two last years of his life 

 were passed at Andover. After he had been there 

 for some time, he was supposed to be completely re- 

 stored, and returned to Boston. He resumed his 

 professional engagements, and pleaded a cause in 

 the court of common pleas, in which he displayed 

 considerable power, but less than was his wont. The 

 interval of reason was not, however, of long dura- 

 tion, and he was induced to go back to Andover. 

 Six weeks after his return, he was killed by a stroke 

 of lightning, in the sixtieth year of his age, May 23, 

 1783. 



OTTAR OF ROSES; an aromatic oil, obtained 

 from the flowers of the rose, but in such small quan- 

 tities that half an ounce can hardly be procured 

 from a hundred pounds of the petals. This oil is 

 solid and white at the common temperature of the 

 atmosphere, but, on the application of heat, becomes 

 fluid, and assumes a yellow colour. It is brought in 

 considerable quantities from Turkey, and is sold at 

 the extravagant price of from three to five pounds 

 an ounce. That from the East Indies, where it is 

 said to be chiefly manufactured, when genuine, has 

 been sold at a much more exorbitant price. It is 

 frequently adulterated with oil of sandal wood ; but 

 the fraud is easily detected by those who are accus- 

 tomed to its scent, and also by the fluidity. The 

 true ottar of roses is, undoubtedly, the most elegant 

 perfume known. 



OTTER (lutra, Storr). This animal somewhat 

 resembles the weasels, with which it was classed by 

 Linnaeus, but differs from them by living almost con- 

 stantly in the water, on which it almost solely de- 

 pends for subsistence. It is distinguished by having 

 eighteen teeth in each jaw, of which twelve are false 

 molars. The feet are palmated, and the tail flattened 

 horizontally. They are excellent swimmers, and feed 

 almost entirely on fish. The common otter (L. corn- 

 munis] inhabits all parts of Europe, dwelling on the 

 banks of rivers, in burrows, forming the entrance of 

 its hole under water, and working upwards, making 

 :i small orifice for the admission of air in the midst 

 of some thick bush. It is about two feet in length 

 to the insertion of the tail, which is sixteen inches 

 long. It is brown above and whitish around the lips, 

 on the cheeks, and beneath. The otter can be do- 

 mesticated, though, from its ferocious disposition, 

 this is a task of much difficulty. When properly 



trained, they become very useful, one of these ani- 

 mals being able to supply a large family with fish. 

 When the otter, in its wild state, has taken a fish, it 

 carries it on shore, and devours the head and upper 

 parts, rejecting the remainder. It is destructive, 

 killing more than it can eat. The female produces 

 four or five young in the spring of the year. It 

 fights very obstinately when hunted, often inflicting 

 severe wounds on the dogs. Its flesh is so fishy that 

 the Romish church permitted the use of it on maigre 

 days. 



American otter (L. Brasiliensis). This species in- 

 habits the whole American continent, but is rare in 

 the Atlantic coast of the United States ; in Canada, 

 however, they are very numerous, 17,300 skins 

 having been sent to England in one year, by the 

 Hudson's bay company. Its habits are the same as 

 that of the European species; both have a habit 

 peculiar to these animals : this is sliding, or climbing 

 to the top of a ridge of snow in winter, or a sloping 

 moist bank in summer, where, lying on the belly, 

 with the fore legs bent backwards, tliey give them- 

 selves an impulse with their hind legs, that enables 

 them to glide swiftly down the eminence. This sport 

 they continue for a long time. The American otter 

 is about five feet in length, including the tail, which 

 is eighteen inches. The colour of the whole body, 

 except the chin and throat, which are a dusky white, 

 is a glossy brown. The fur is much esteemed, and is 

 very dense and fine. The common mode of taking 

 them is by sinking a steel trap near the mouth of 

 their burrow. 



Sea otter (L. lutris). This species is much larger 

 than the two last, being about the size of a large 

 mastiff, and weighing from seventy to eighty pounds. 

 Its colour, when in full season, is perfectly black; at 

 other times of a dark brown. The fur is very fine, 

 and sells at very high prices in China, to which the 

 skins are usually taken. It is exclusively found be- 

 tween the 49th and 60th degrees north latitude, on 

 the north-western coasts of North America, and the 

 shores of Kamtschatka and the adjoining islands. 

 It is always seen on the coast or in the immediate 

 vicinity of salt water. It feeds on almost all kinds 

 of fish and crustaceous animals. It runs very swiftly 

 and swims with extreme celerity, either on its back, 

 sides, or sometimes as if upright in the water. It is 

 caught by placing a net among the sea-weed, or by 

 chasing it in boats. The flesh of the young is said to 

 be very tender, resembling lamb in flavour. The 

 female brings forth but one at a birth, and is ex- 

 tremely careful and sedulous in her attention to her 

 offspring, playing with it and fondling it in various 

 ways, and never relinquishing it as long as she can 

 defend it. The young continues with the dam till it 

 is old enough to seek a mate, to whom it continues 

 constant. 



OTTOMAN EMPIRE, TURKISH EMPIRE, 

 OTTOMAN OR SUBLIME PORTE. The finest 

 countries of the old world Thrace, Greece, Asia 

 Minor, Colchis, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and 

 Egypt, together with the islands of the Archipelago, 

 and spicy Arabia, whose commerce connects Asia 

 and Africa with Europe, and unites the East with 

 the West have been ruled for five hundred years by 

 the Turks, or Ottomans, a mixed people, composed 

 of Tartars, robbers, slaves, and kidnapped Christian 

 children. They are the only barbarians who have 

 reduced civilized nations to their yoke without ming- 

 ling with them, without adopting their language, 

 their religion, their sciences, their arts, and their 

 manners. This nation, originally a horde of rob- 

 bers, become powerful by conquest, have remained 

 strangers in the midst of Europe, and for four cen- 

 turies have profaned with Asiatic despotism the clas- 

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