64 MAMMALIA. 



MuJttela lutra Braziliensis, Gmelin. ( 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, which is not naked as in most animals, but is covered with hair like 

 the rest of the chanfrin. From the rivers of both Americas. 



Mustela lutris, Linnaeus. ( The Sea Otter.) Size, double that of the Euro- 

 pean species ; body much elongated ; tail one-third the length of the body ; 

 the hind feet very short. There is sometimes white about the head. It has only 

 four incisors bel >w, but the molars are like those of the other otters. Its 

 blackish velvet-looking fur is extremely valuable, to obtain which the English 

 and Russians hunt the animal throughout the northern parts of the Pacific 

 Ocean. 



In the second subdivision of the Digitigrada there are two flat tuberculous 

 teeth, behind the superior carnivorous tooth, which is itself furnished with a 

 large heel. They are carnivorous, but do not exhibit a courage proportioned 

 to their powers, and frequently feed on carrion. 



CANIS, Linnceus. 



Dogs have three false molars above, four below and 



two tuberculous teeth behind each of the carnivori ; 



the first of tbese 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. 



C. familiaris, Linnams. (The Domestic Dog.) Distinguished by his 

 recurved tail, otherwise varying infinitely, as to size, form, colour, and quality 

 of the hair. He is the most complete, singular, and useful conquest ever made 

 by man; the whole species has become his property; each individual is devoted 

 to his particular master, assumes his manners, knows and defends his posses- 

 sions, and remains his true and faithful friend till death and all this neither 

 from constraint nor want, but solely from the purest gratitude and the truest 

 friendship. The swiftness, strength, and scent of the dog have rendered him 

 man's powerful ally against all other animals, and were even, perhaps, neces- 

 sary to the establishment of society. Of all animals, he is the only one which 

 has followed man through every region of the globe. 



Some naturalists think the dog is a wolf, and others that he is a domestica'ed 

 jackal ; and yet those dogs which have become wild again in desert islands 

 resemble neither the one nor the other. The wild dogs, and those that belong 

 to savages, such as the inhabitants of New Holland, have straight ears, which 

 h.-.'s occasioned a belief that the European races, which approach the most to 

 the original type, are the Shepherd's Dog, and Wolf Dog ; but the comparison 

 of the crania indicates a closer affinity in the Mastiff and Danish Dog, subse- 

 quently to which come the Hound, the Pointer, and the Terrier, differing 

 between themselves only in size and the proportions of the limbs. The drey- 



