90 MAMMALIA. 



L. lataxina, Fr. Cuv., becomes a little larger, is sometimes more 

 deeply coloured, and has a brownish tint beneath ; very frequently, 

 however, there is no difference even in the shades of colour. In 

 Brazil there are others similar in every respect to those of Carolina. 

 That of the East Indies, the L. nair, Fr. Cuv., (the Pondicherry 

 Otter) appears a little smoother, and is somewhat pale about the 

 eye-brows, but it is scarcely perceptible. The Indians employ it for 

 fishing, as we do the dog for hunting. That of Java, L. leptonyx, 

 Horsf. (the Javanese Otter), has a whiter throat, and this whiteness 

 ascends on the sides of the head so as to surround the eye. In that 

 of the Cape, L. capensis, Fr. Cuv,, the white on the throat, sides of 

 the head and neck, is purer and more extended ; the end of the nose 

 is even marked with it: what particularly distinguishes it, however, 

 is that, at least at a certain age, it has no nails, a character on which 

 M, Lesson has founded his genus Aonyx. Young individuals how- 

 ever have been brought from the Cape that have nails ; it remains to 

 be ascertained whether or not they are of the same species. 



Mustela lutra hrasiliensis, Gm. (The American Otter). Brown 

 or fawn-coloured; throat white or yellowish; a little larger than the 

 European Otter ; the body is also longer, and the hair shorter. It 

 is distinguished by the end of the nose, not being naked as in most 

 animals, but being covered with hair like the rest of the chanfrin. 

 From the rivers of both Americas. 



Mustela lutris, L. ; Schreb. CXXVIII *. (The Sea-Otter). 

 Size, double that of the European species ; body much elongated ; 

 tail one-third the length of the body ; the hind feet very short. Its 

 blackish fur, with a marked velvety character, is the most valuable 

 of all the furs; it is often whitish on the head. The English and 

 Russians go in search of this animal in the whole of the northern 

 portion of the Pacific Ocean, for the purpose of making a traffick 

 in its skin with China and Japan. It has no more than four incisor 

 teeth below, but its grinders resemble those of the other Otters. 



The second subdivision of the Digitigrada has two flat tuberculous teeth 

 behind the superior lacerator, which is itself furnished with a large heel. 

 They are carnivorous, but do not exhibit a courage proportioned to their 

 strength, and frequently feed on carrion. The caecum is always small. 



Canis, Lin. 



Dogs have three false molars above, four below, and two tuberculous teeth 

 behind each of the carnivori ; the first of these upper tuberculous teeth is 

 very large. Their superior carnivorous has only a small inner tubercle, 

 but the posterior portion of the inferior is altogether tuberculous. The 

 tongue is soft; the fore-feet have five toes, and the hind ones four. 



* This figure, apparently drawn from a badly prepared specimen, presents an ex- 

 aggerated resemblance to the Seal, a circumstance by which some naturalists have 

 been induced to believe it should be placed near that genus — its whole organization, 

 however, is that of the Otter. See Ev. Home, Phil. Trans. 17^6. 



