320 VERTEBRATA. 



!"\\ them like a dog, but its short legs soon failed it, and it grow weary. It would amuse 

 itself with doga and cats as well as with their masters; but it was a rough play-follow, and re- 

 quired to be treated cautiously, for it bit sharply. It never harmed poultry, or any other animal, 

 i xcepting sucking-pigs, which were nol Bafe within its reach, and it would have killed them if it 

 bad not been prevented. It entered all the rooms, and sl.pt always below the bed; was very 

 cleanly, and always visited one particular spot, t'<>r the deposit of its excrements. 



According to D'Azara, this species inhabits the lakes and rivers of Paraguay; he at first stated 

 that he did not believe that it entered salt-water, and that its geographical range did not extend 

 to the river Plata; hut in his French abridgment he says that the species is found in that river. 



Genus LATAXIE. — Under this title, some naturalists enumerate several other species of otter, 

 as the Carolina ( Mtkk, L. lataxina ; the Trinity Otter, L. insularis ; the Chilian Otter, L. 

 Chilensis; tin- Peri vian Otter, L. Peruviensis ; the La Plata Otter, L. Platensis ; the Pau- 



\..: \', < >l IKK, /.. Para //.v/.v, &C. 



Other species of otter are ranged under the generic titles of Leptonix, Aonvx, Saricovienxk, 

 and Pteronure. These d isl i net ions of nomenclature are founded upon slight peculiarities of struc- 

 ture, the general characteristics of all the species being similar to those we have described. 



Genus ENHYDRA, SEA-OTTER, or SEA-BEAVER: Enhydris.—Mustela lutris of Lin- 

 naeus; \fustela marina of various authors; Loutre de Kamlschatka of the French. This animal, 

 of which there is 'hut one species, haunts sea-washed rocks around bays and estuaries, lives mostlv 

 in the water, and approximates to the seals more than to the otters in its habits. Its food is lob- 

 ster- and fish of various kinds. The female brings forth on land, and notwithstanding the gen- 

 eral marine instincts of the animal, it has been occasionally seen far inland. It is very timid, 

 and prefers the neighborhood of islands, where it can at once find food and shelter. It is found 

 in the North Pacific, from Kamtschatka to the Yellow Sea on the Asiatic side, and from Alaska 

 to California on the American coast. 



The sea-otter has a small head, large body, short legs, short tail, webbed feet, fur thick, fine 

 and glossy, and generally of a brownish black, though the species vary in the depth of tint. The 

 length <>f the head and body is four feet and upwards; tail, one foot. The skins are valuable, 

 though less so than formerly; they are chiefly consumed in China, where thev are worn as badges 

 of distinction l>y the high functionaries. Gervais says, — " According to their degree of perfection, 

 and the fineness and luster of the fur, their skins at the present day are valued at 800 to 1,500 

 francs. It appears that they decrease year by year, and the price tends to constant augmenta- 

 tion. In the time of Stellcr, a company of sailors would take eight hundred of these creatures 

 during an expedition. At the present time, a party of seal-catchers, who are also otter-hunter-. 

 often do not take a single one. On the coast of Japan they are now only seen occasionally." 



Fossil Mi stelid^e. — The fossil remains of weasels have been found in the tertiary series in the 

 bone-caves and bone-breccias at various places in Europe. 



