MAMMALIA. FERiE. Otters. 171 



XVII. WEASEL.— 16. MU STELA. 15. 



Has fix cutting teeth in each jaw; thofe in the upper jaw are 

 erecl, fharp-pointed, and diftinct.; in the lower jaw they are 

 blunter, huddled together, and two are placed within the 

 line of the reft: The tongue is fmooth. 



In many circumftances the Otters and Weafels agree together ; the body is very long, and of an 

 equal thicknefs ; the legs are fhort, with fmooth ihining hair ; the claws are not retractile ; they dig 

 holes, or burrows, in w<hich they relkle ; and they chiefly go about, in fearch of prey, during the 

 night : But the Otters live almoft conftantly in the water, fwimming with great readinefs, both on 

 the furface and below it, and fubfift chiefly on fifh ; they do not climb trees, neither do they leap, 

 with a crooked body and ftretched out tail, in the manner of the Weafels ; the head of the Otter is 

 larger and thicker ; the tongue is covered with foit papillae ; they have five grinders on each fide of 

 each jaw: The Weafels have four grinders above and five below, or five above and fix below, on each 

 fide. From all thefe circumftances, and from the peculiar conformation of their feet, perhaps it 

 were proper to feparate them into diftincT: genera ; but as they are placed in the fame genus by the 

 great Linnaeus, thefe animals are here only divided into two fubordinate feclions. 



* OTTER S.—L U T R JE. 

 Having the toes of the hind feet webbed, or connected together by a membrane^ 



332 1. Sea Otter. 1. M. Lutra Lutris. 1. 



The hind feet are webbed and hairy ; and the tail is only a quarter of the length of the 

 body. 



Lutra marina, or Sea Otter, having hairy feet, and a hairy tail, which is only a quarter of the 

 length of the body. Erxleb. mam. 445. Schreber, iii. 46. t. cxxviii. Penn. hift. of quad. n. 230. 

 pi. on the title of vol. ii. Arct. zool. n. 36. — Kalan. Steller, nov. com. Petrpp. ii. 367. t. 26. 



Inhabits the coafts of North-weft America and Eaftern Afia, and the intermediate iflands. — The 

 head is flat, having fmall, roundifh, hairy ears ; an obtufe muzzle, with a black nofe, the upper jaw 

 being longer and broader than the lower, and having numerous ftifF whifkers, above and at the fides 

 of the eyes, near the corners of the mouth, on the fides of the under lip, and under the throat ; in 

 each jaw are fix fore-teeth, thofe above being equal in fize and appearance, while of thofe in the low- 

 er jaw, the two outermoft are divided into two lobes, and two alternate teeth of thofe in the middle 

 are fet within the line of the reft ; the legs are thick and fhort, having five toes on each foot, all of 

 them connected by membranes ; the tail is flattened and considerably fhorter than the body. This 

 animal is, from nofe to tail, about three feet long, and the tail is about thirteen inches ; the whole 

 body and the limbs are black, except the fore part of the head, which is white or grey ; the largeft 

 individual weighs from feventy to eighty pounds ; the fur is very thick, long, black, and glofly, fome- 



Y z times- 



