538 



DIG1TIGKADE CAKNIVORA. 



The Skunks (Mephites *) are celebrated for their intolerable 

 stench, which they diffuse to a great distance. They inhabit Nortl: 

 America. 



The Otters (Lutra] possess a peculiar physiognomy, which prevents 

 them from being confounded with any of the neighbouring genera 

 Destined to pursue and to feed on living fishes, they are aquatic 

 animals, and furnished with means of swift progression beneath the 

 water. Their body is long but flattened, and capable of much flexi- 

 bility in swimming. The feet are broad and webbed, and the tat 

 flattened horizontally, forming a rudder. Their coat is very thick 

 and formed of two sorts of hairs, one silky, the other woolly ; th( 



FlG. 402. OTTKK. 



silky is long, stout, hard, and shining, and the hairs thicker at th( 

 point than at their base ; the woolly is short and compact, forming 

 an extremely soft fur. These animals live chiefly upon fish, afte] 

 which they dive with peculiar ease and swiftness, capturing theii 

 slippery prey with unerring skill. The result of their fishing if 

 always brought on land to be devoured, and the head bitten oft' as 

 the first mouthful. They inhabit bye -places, and sequestered nooks 

 on the banks, or in the neighbourhood of water ; here they make 

 bed of dry grass, and remain concealed during the day, it is onlj 

 at night, that they issue forth in search of food. 



The Sea Otter (Mustela lutris] is twice as large as the commor 

 Otter 7 and its black coat of the vivid brightness of velvet forms one 

 of the 'most precious furs. This species inhabits Kamtschatka, the 



* Mephitis, a noxious exhalation. 



