60 



figured by Home In the ' Philosophical Transactions ' for 1796 ; and 

 then adverts to some erroneous statements which have since been 

 made respecting its molar teeth by various authors, including 

 Cuvier, vi^ho appear to have possessed no opportunities of examining 

 specimens. In the course of his communication he describes in 

 detail the number and form of the teeth, which consist of six in- 

 cisors in the upper jaw and of four in the lower, the outer one 

 on each side in either series being larger than the others and as- 

 suming, in the upper jaw, somewhat of the form of the canines ; 

 of a strong canine on each side of the incisors in either jaw ; and of 

 four molars on either side in the upper, and five in the lower jaw, of 

 which two in the upper and three in the lower are false and suc- 

 cessively increase in size towards the true molars, the latter being 

 large, broad teeth, with flattened crowns somewhat depressed in the 

 middle : in the upper jaw the hindermost of the true molars is much 

 larger than the other, while in the lower it is comparatively small. 

 The total length of the skeleton is 3 feet 2 inches ; of which the 

 skull measures 5 inches, and the tail, 10. 



The general form of the skull nearly resembles that of the Common 

 Otter, Liitra vulgaris, Storr ; but it is proportionally broader, and is 

 more convex on its lateral parietes, in this respect approaching to 

 many of the Seals : the nasal bones form a broad plane, and do not 

 gradually decline, like those of the Common Otter, towards the nasal 

 opening ; they are also shorter in proportion than in that species ; 

 the breadth of the nasal opening is greater than its depth, propor- 

 tions which are reversed in the Common Otter : the post-orbital space 

 is less contracted : on the base of the skull the space between the 

 pterygoid processes is more considerable : and the whole contour of 

 the cranium is not only broader but deeper also. The lower jaw 

 maintains the same general tendency to greater compactness, and is 

 stouter and shorter than in the Common Otter. 



Detailed admeasurements are given by Mr. Martin of the skull of 

 an individual more advanced in age than the one whose skeleton is 

 preserved, and in which the entire length of the cranium is 5 inches; 

 the greatest breadth, being across the occipital ridge behind the 

 auditory /oramew, nearly 4 inches, the breadth between the zygo- 

 mata being the same ; the depth from the point of union of the in- 

 ter-parietal with the occipital ridge to the foramen magnum, If; the 

 distance from the foramen magnum to the bony palate, 24 ; and the 

 length of the bony palate, 2^. 



The chest is rather wide in form, but much compressed ; being 6 

 inches across at the sixth rib, while its greatest depth from the ver- 

 tebral column to the sternum is 2^- inches. The direction of the 

 ribs is obhquely backwards, and they are rather slender : their num- 

 ber is thirteen, (not fourteen, as is stated by Home,) the last five 

 being false and attached by very long cartilages to the cartilages of 

 the true ribs. 



The lumbar vertebrae are six in number. 



