THE OTTER. 3 



this^ and a very interesting and scientific process, not generally known* 

 The Otter presses his nose against the ice, then exhales the air from his 

 lungs, which forms a flat air-bubble around his nose, and between the ice 

 and water ; the air is allowed to remain there a few seconds, and thus by its 

 contact with the ice and water is cooled, purified and re-oxygenated, then 

 the same is inhaled into the lungs, and the Otter is ready for a new start ; 

 this may be repeated for a number of times, until the loss and wastage of 

 air requires a new supply. You will at once see the beauty and usefulness 

 of the process. The Beaver and some other animals do the same, to enable 

 them to 'live under the ice a long time, without taking breath."' 



We are not able to confirm this from personal observation, 

 and may remark that upon the only occasion that we know of; 

 when an Otter plunged through a hole in the ice at the side of a 

 lake, it was drowned, and the body was not recovered until the 

 ice broke up. This was a tame Otter belonging to Mr. Assheton 

 Smith, of Vaynol Park, North Wales, which was accustomed to 

 follow its master in his walks. It would hunt a trout-stream for 

 his diversion, coming back when called, like a dog, and was quite 

 accustomed to the lake above mentioned, from which we have 

 often seen it bring out a fish. 



Apropos of Otters on the ice, a curious incident happened 

 during a severe frost in December, 1879. A farmer, residing 

 near the river Irfon, a short distance above Llanwrtyd Wells, 

 when walking by the river observed a great commotion in the 

 water close to the edge of some thick ice ; on going nearer he 

 found it was caused by an Otter, which, strange as it may appear, 

 was firmly frozen by its tail to the ice. Probably the Otter had 

 been for some time sitting on the edge of the ice in wait for 

 a passing fish, and on plunging in to secure its prey, found itself 

 in durance vile. The poor beast's nails were quite worn to the 

 flesh by scratching against a rock, and its teeth broken by biting 

 the ice in its vain attempt to free itself. The Otter was secured 

 and taken home by the farmer, but died the same night. 



That Otters are capable of being tamed and trained there is 

 abundant evidence to show. We might quote Albertus Magnus, 

 Aldrovandus, Gesner, and other ancient writers to prove this, 

 but more modern testimony will be preferred. Every angler will 

 remember the passage in Izaak Walton where "Piscator" ex- 

 presses a wish to have one of the young Otters which the 

 huntsman had found, and exclaims, "I pray, Sir, save me one, 



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