90 MAMMALIA. 
L. lataxina, Fr. Cuy., becomes a little larger, is sometimes more 
deeply coloured, and has a brownish tint beneath; very frequently, 
however, there is no difference even in the shades of colour. In 
Brazil there are others similar in every respect to those of Carolina. 
That of the East Indies, the Z. nair, Fr. Cuy., (the Pondicherry 
Otter) appears a little smoother, and is somewhat pale about the 
eye-brows, but it is scarcely perceptible. The Indians employ it for 
fishing, as we do the dog for hunting. That of Java, L. leptonysx, 
Horsf. (the Javanese Otter), has a whiter throat, and this whiteness 
ascends on the sides of the head so as to surround the eye. In that 
of the Cape, L. capensis, Fr. Cuv., the white on the throat, sides of 
the head and neck, is purer and more extended; the end of the nose 
is even marked with it: what particularly distinguishes it, however, 
is that, at least at a certain age, it has no nails, a character on which 
M. Lesson has founded his genus Aonyx. Young individuals how- 
ever have been brought from the Cape that have nails; it remains to 
be ascertained whether or not they are of the same species. 
Mustela lutra brasiliensis, Gm. (The American Otter). Brown 
or fawn-coloured; throat white or yellowish; a little larger than the 
European Otter; the body is also longer, and the hair shorter. It 
is distinguished by the end of the nose, not being naked as in most 
animals, but being covered with hair like the rest of the chanfrin. 
From the rivers of both Americas. 
Mustela lutris, L.; Schreb. CXXVIII*. (The Sea-Otter). 
Size, double that of the European species; body much elongated ; 
tail one-third the length of the body; the hind feet very short. Its 
blackish fur, with a marked velvety character, is the most valuable 
of all the furs; it is often whitish on the head. The English and 
Russians go in search of this animal in the whole of the northern 
portion of the Pacific Ocean, for the purpose of making a traffick 
in its skin with China and Japan. It has no more than four incisor 
teeth below, but its grinders resemble those of the other Otters. 
The second subdivision of the Digitigrada has two flat tuberculous teeth 
behind the superior lacerator, which is itself furnished with a large heel. 
They are carnivorous, but do not exhibit a courage proportioned to their 
strength, and frequently feed on carrion. The cecum is always small. 
Canis, Lin. 
Dogs have three false molars above, four below, and two tuberculous teeth 
behind each of the carnivori; the first of these upper tuberculous teeth is 
very large. Their superior carnivorous has only a smali inner tubercle, 
but the posterior portion of the inferior is altogether tuberculous. The 
tongue is soft; the fore-feet have five toes, and the hind ones four. 
* This figure, apparently drawn from a badly prepared specimen, presents an ex- 
aggerated resemblance to the Seal, a circumstance by which some naturalists have 
been induced to believe it should be placed near that genus—its whole organization, 
however, is that of the Otter. See Ev. Home, Phil. Trans. 1796. 
