Otters and 

 Otter-Hunting 



CHAPTER I. 



THE PLACE OF THE OTTER IN 

 ZOOLOGY. 



In scientific classification the Otter — species, Lutra 

 vulgaris — ^belongs to the genus Lutra, sub-family 

 Liitrince, family Mtistelidce, section Arctoidea, sub- 

 order Carnivora vera or Fissipedia, order Carni- 

 vora, sub-class Monodelphia, class Mammalia, 

 phylum Vertebrata of the Animal Kingdom. 



Lutra vulgaris, the Common Otter of the 

 British Isles, has been given by zoologists the 

 following Latin names : Lutra vulgaris, Erxleben, 

 Desmar, Jenyns. Lutra, Ray. Mustela Lutra 

 and Viverra Lutra, Linnaeus. Lutra Roensis, 

 Ogilby. It is Lutra lutra in the latest catalogue 

 of the Zoological Society of London. 



Buffon calls it La Loutre, and in German it is 

 die Fischotter. The Celtic peoples had several 



B 



