THE CANADIAN OTTER. 19 



Goldsmith, contrasting it with the European animal, 

 actually informs us that "it is usually found white, 

 inclining to yellow !" According to Sir John Richardson, 

 Cuvier has confounded it with the otter of Brazil; while 

 Pennant* considers it identical with the common European 

 otter ; and Buffon describes it as differing from the latter 

 in its size and hue. In the " Fauna Borealis Americana " 

 its length is correctly given as "five feet, including the 

 tail, which measures eighteen inches ;" but in another work 

 we are told that it measures only two feet in length, and 

 that the tail is not more than ten inches long. 



The principal distinctions between it and the common 

 otter of our own country are its superior size, and the 

 very much darker colour of its fur. This is a very 

 deep brown, which in summer, and if the animal is 

 in good condition, is often nearly black on the back, 

 the upper side of the tail and on the legs; the under 

 parts are lighter in their hue ; and the sides of the 

 head, the throat and breast are grey with a brownish 

 tint. They are found to increase in darkness and 

 depth of colour further north. A peculiarity also, which 

 is not found in the European otter, is that the fur 

 on the under parts presents the same glossy appear- 

 ance as the upper. In point of size, the Canadian 



* Arctic Zoology. 



c2 



