The Place of the Otter in Zoology. 3 



the brown beast, are only applied to the female 

 Otter. In yet another Gaelic appellation for the 

 Otter, dbbhran-leaslan, the literal meaning is '' the 

 full-thighed water-thing," which is admirably 

 descriptive. Dbbhar-cJui has also been taken to 

 mean the dark or obscure dog, and is the name of 

 the fabulous Otter — believed in, but never seen, 

 by the Highlanders — whose skin can heal all 

 diseases, its value being the amount of pure gold it 

 will contain when sewn up to make a sporan, or 

 purse. 



The physical description of Lutra vulgaris is 

 that of an animal whose head is broad and flat, 

 the muzzle very broad, the upper lip thick and 

 overhung, whiskers very thick and strong, tongue 

 slightly rough, eyes one inch or so behind the 

 nostrils, small, black, with prominent cornea, ears 

 short and rounded, body long and low, legs short 

 and loosely articulated, feet palmate, with five 

 toes on each, furnished with strong and perfect 

 interdigital webs, and with short claws somewhat 

 turned up but not retractile, tail more than half 

 as long as the head and body together, very broad 

 and strong at the base, flattened horizontally, with 

 two small glands secreting a foetid liquid underneath, 

 fur of two kinds, the shorter fine, soft, and whitish 

 grey in colour, with brown tips, the longer stiffer 

 and thicker, shining, greyish at base, bright rich 



B 2 



