LUTRA LEPTONYX. 



I am also indebted to the kindness of this gentleman, for the means of extending 

 my comparison to a specimen of the American Otter, and of becoming more accu- 

 rately acquainted with the Common Otter which inhabits England ; and I shall now 

 detail the characters by which the Javanese Otter is distinguished. 



The head, in the Lutra leptonyx, has a different form from that of the Lutra 

 vulgaris. It is narrower and more lengthened, and the ears have comparatively a 

 posterior situation. The physiognomy of the animal, in consequence, when accu- 

 rately regarded, is essentially different. The neck is considerably longer : the tail 

 is smaller, both in its vertical and transverse diameter ; it is somewhat shorter in 

 proportion to the body, and more acutely terminated. The anterior extremities are 

 likewise proportionally longer, and the entire habit is more slender and extended. 

 In these characters the Javanese Otter approaches to the American Otter; but, 

 agreeably to the comparison which I have made, it differs essentially in size and 

 colour. It has likewise a peculiarity in the size and structure of the claws, from 

 which the specific distinction is principally derived. In the Common and in the 

 American Otter, the claws are robust, long, compressed, curved, very acute, and 

 projecting beyond the extremity of the toes : in the Javanese Otter they are weak, 

 short, obtuse, resembling thin laminee or scales, Avhich are buried in the fleshy 

 extremity of the last phalanx. They have, in their disposition, some resemblance 

 to the claws of several monkies. This character exists in the toes of both extremities, 

 nearly in an equal degree. In very young subjects the claws are acutely terminated, 

 and project slightly beyond the toes ; but they have the same slenderness of texture. 

 Two adults, an half-grown, and various young specimens are contained in the 

 Museum of the East India Company, in all of which this character is the same. 

 Baron von Wurmb, the author of the description of the Gray Otter of Java, con- 

 tained in the second Volume of the Batavia Society's Transactions, also points out 

 this character, describing the toes as being provided with " rounded claws." 



The distribution of the external marks is similar in the Javanese, the Common, 

 and the American Otter. All the parts are uniform in colour, except the sides of 

 the head, the throat, and that portion of the breast which is nearest to it. In the 

 Common as well as in the American Otter, the dark parts have a pure brown tint, 

 very intense; in the Javanese Otter they are brown, less intense, and present a tawny 

 lustre : the lighter tints on the sides of the head, the throat, and part of the breast, 

 have a whitish silvery lustre in the former ; in the latter they are yellowish, dusky, 

 without any gloss, and the distinction of the colours is continued lower alono- the 

 neck. The Javanese Otter has, like the Common Otter, a double series of whiskers ; 



