COMMOK OTTER. 181 



der tne skin is a layer of fat, as in the Seals, which 

 might render it pleasant food to a Greenlander or 

 starving Hebridian. By the Celts the Otter is 

 named Balgair, Cu-donn, (Brown Dog,) and Ma- 

 tadh, (Hound.) I have heard of White Otters, but 

 have not seen an albino ; although sometimes hairs 

 of that colour are dispersed over the body, and 

 patches on the throat. 



Mr Ogilby considers the marine Otters of Ireland 

 as constituting a distinct species ; but Mr BeU 

 states, that a specimen in the Museum of the Zoolo* 

 gical Society of London, presented by him, doefc 

 not exhibit " characters sufficiently distinct to leai 

 to the belief that it is more than a very dark and 

 handsome variety of the common species." Thfc 

 is also the case with the marine Otters of tin- 

 north of Scotland, some of which are very large- 

 and occasionally of a very dark colour. It is pos- 

 sible enough that there may be a marine Otter 

 different from the common species, which is both 

 marine and fluviatile, but as yet there are not suffi- 

 cient reasons for admitting two British species. 



