198 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



An allied species, the Little Striped Skunk,* is less than a foot long, and the tail is shorter than 

 the body. The fur is black, and marked with numerous white stripes and spots. It is found in the 

 southern part of the United States, and is said to be readily capable of domestication, proving very 

 serviceable as a Mouser. Of course, under these circumstances, the glands are removed while the 

 animal is young. 



The White-backed Skunk t is the South American form of the genus. It occurs throughout that 

 Continent as well as in Mexico and the south-western portions of the United States. It is much 

 larger than the northern species, attaining a length of from eighteen inches to two feet, and is further 

 distinguished by its short white tail, which does not exceed nine or ten inches in length, its pig-like 

 snout projecting a full inch beyond the mouth, and its white back sometimes marked by a median 

 black stripe. The rest of the fur is, as usual, black. 



Our friend, Mr. Purdie, whose acquaintance with the Skunk in South America has been of the 

 most practical kind, assures us that when about to discharge its secretion, the animal invariably faces 

 round, so as to look its enemy full in the face, throws its tail over its back, and allows the breeze to 

 carry the fluid in the desired direction. This method of discharge seems highly unaccountable, and 

 difficult to reconcile with the anatomical facts ; but it would be certainly going too far to say that it 

 is impossible. Dr. Coues, who has repeatedly observed the North American Skunk, states that the 

 animal invariably turns its back to its intended victim. 



THE COMMON OTTER.+ 

 "We now come to the most thoroughly aquatic of the Fissipedia, the sub-family of Otters, animals 



which, although quite capable of active and unembarrassed movement on land, are yet thoroughly 



at home only in the water. In accordance 

 with this mode of life, the toes are webbed, 

 and provided with very short claws, and the 

 tail is long, tapering, and flattened, so as to 

 serve the precise purpose of the corresponding 

 appendage in a fish. The length of the head 

 and body is about two feet, that of the tail, 

 one foot five inches. The fur is of a soft 

 brown coloxir, becoming lighter on the under 

 side of the throat and the breast, and consists, 

 of long, coarse, shining hairs, with a short 

 under-fur of fine texture, well calculated to 

 preserve equality of temperature as the animal 

 resorts alternately to land or water. The 

 skull is greatly elongated, and flattened from 



above downwards ; the facial part of it is small, as compared with the brain-containing or cranial part. 



The region of the skull between the eyes is very narrow, and its floor is wide and thin. In all these 



points, save the first mentioned, the skull of the 



Otter approaches that of the Seal. As to the 



teeth, there is one premolar less on each side 



of the lower jaw than in the Martens, and 



both molars and premolars have sharp-pointed 



cusps, quite like those of the other Mus- 



telidce. 



The habits of the Otter are so entirely 



aquatic, that in the good old times it was 



thought to be a sort of cross betAveen a beast 



and a fish, just as the Bat was thought to be 



'intermediate between a beast and a bird. So deeply rooted was this opinion that the Otter's flesh 



VNDER VIEW OF SKULL OF COMMON OTTER. (After C'oHCS.) 



SIDE VIEW OF SKULL OF COMMOX OTTEK. (After Coues.) 



Mephitis (or Spilogale) putorius. 



t Mephitis (or Conepatus) mapurito. 



Lutra vulgaris. 



The dental formula is Incisors, ' canines, j ^ premolars, j^; molars, ^ = 36. 



