188 UIViaiUN I. VEKTEBKAL AXIJIALS. — CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 



L. C'lniftJotsis. — The Canada, Otter. Tliis ;inimal is miicli larger than 

 the ciiimnnn, being nearly five feet in length. It dwells in tlie lakes and all 

 the alHiients of the St. Lawrence, and probaldy to a eunsidei'able distance 

 sonthward. 



L. j\'(fir. — Indian Otter. This is probalily identical with the X. Iiidlcn. 

 The color is of a deep cliestnnt ; the cheeks, and lower part of the neck and 

 throat, bright rt'ddish-ljrown ; and above the eye is a yellowish-white 

 spot. The Indian otters arc domesticated l)y tlie natives, and kept in packs 

 of ten or twehe, aiul made to serve them in lishing, wliicji they do by driv- 

 ing tJic ii>h into nets. 



In addition to the al)0\c, naturalists mention the L. C/n'leiisis, L. Call- 

 foriiicii, h. (JIiiiKfiists, h. lidriuKj, Ij. J>r(t::ill<:ns!.<, and seven species in 

 Kcpaid, all of w liich are distinguished by nearly the same habits, and exhibit 

 the same peculiar instincts, which we are about to notice. 



The Spani^li traveller, Azara, describes a South American species of 

 smaller dimensions, living together in large societies, tor the pLU'pose of 

 fishing, and occasionally wandering on the land. 



All the otters, in a dcgi'ce, exhibit the same curious traits of character, 

 some of the most extraordinary of which are their strong affection for their 

 young, — an aifection almost human in its intelligence, deptli, and tenderness 

 — tlicir capaliility of domestication, and the mysterious attachment they mani- 

 fest towards their masters. There is something awtid, and almost supernatu- 

 ral, in the look of unutterable confidence and picatling affection which these 

 l)riites fasten ujion the face of their protectors, and we wonder not that rude 

 people ha\e believetl fliat tlie bodies of these and other amphibians were 

 inhabited by the spirits of lost nations. 



The females produce from four to five at a birth. Their parental aflection 

 is so powerful, that they will frcijucntly suffer themselves to be killed rather 

 tlian (piit their progeny ; and this has frequently been tlie occasion of their 

 losing their lives, when they might otherwise have escaped. 



I'rofes.^or Steller says, "Often have I spared the lives of the female otters 

 whose young I took away. They expressed their sorrow liy crying like 

 human licings, and followed nic as I was carrying off their young ones, 

 whicli called to them for aid with a tone of voice which very much resembled 

 the wailing of children. A\'hen I sat down in the snow they came quite 

 close to me, and attempted to rescue them. On one occasion, when I had 

 dcjirivcd an otter of her progeny, I returned to the j)lace eight days after, 

 raid found the female sitting by the river, listless and desponding. She suf- 

 fered me to kill her on the spot, without making any attempt to escape. On 

 skinning her, I i'ound she was quite wasted away, from sorrow for the loss 

 of her young. Another time I saw, at some distance from me, an old 



