316 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



head, he says, is narrower and more lengthened, and the 

 ears have, comparatively, a posterior situation. The neck 

 is considerably shorter, and the tail is shorter in proportion 

 to the body, and more acutely terminated. The anterior ex- 

 tremities are longer, and the entire habit is more slender 

 and extended ; the claws, also, are weaker and shorter 

 than in the common Otter. 



The Sea Otter (Mustela Lutris) is full twice the size of 

 the Common Otter: the body is very long, and the tail 

 about one-third the length of the body. Its skin, shining 

 like velvet, is the most esteemed of all furs, and, conse- 

 quently, the most expensive. It is black, with a shade of 

 brown ; but, about the head, there are, in general, more or 

 less of white hairs. The hinder legs, in particular, are 

 very short, and placed nearer the anus than in quadrupeds 

 in general, which assimilates it to the Seal, to which it 

 bears a considerable general affinity ; it sometimes weighs 

 as much as seventy or even eighty pounds. It is found, 

 perhaps exclusively, in the northern parts of the Pacific 

 Ocean, where the Asiatic and American continents nearly 

 approach each other, and in the intervening islands. It is 

 said, that a single skin is sometimes sold, in the Chinese 

 or Japanese markets, for upwards of twenty pounds 

 sterling. 



During winter, the Sea Otter confines itself to the ice 

 near the sea-shore, or to the shore itself; in summer, it as- 

 cends the rivers, as far as the fresh-water lakes, in company 

 with its single female. The latter is gravid eight or 

 nine months, and brings, generally, but one young at a 

 birth. 



They are said to feed on fuci, as well as fish and crusta- 

 ceous animals, but the teeth do not appear to indicate it. 



Individuals seem to differ, in having more or less white 

 about them ; and a white-headed variety is known, of which 

 we are enabled to present a figure. 



