MARINE MAMMALS. 319 
the productions of which we are now inquiring. 
The whole character and history of species, and 
consequently the philosophy of Zoology in general 
can only be arrived at by tracing the habits, physical 
endowments, &c. of animals in each different locality 
they inhabit, and hence this is one cogent reason 
for prosecuting the natural history of districts, and 
comparing and combining the same. 
Now the Ofter is an illustration of this. It is 
usually thought to be a fluviatile animal only, but 
in Devonshire it is both fluviatile and marine, quite 
as many residing on the coast and fishing to a short 
distance off the land, as on the banks of our rivers. 
In the former case they take possession of small 
hollows in the rocks, and are yearly hunted in these 
situations near Plymouth. It might be expected 
that the Seal would find a place among our Devon 
animals, but I know of no instance of its capture 
here, though from its occurrence in Cornwall we 
might reasonably expect that it would be found 
with us also. 
The Cetaceous Mammalia of our coast deserve 
more than usual notice in this place, because these 
animals have never been properly examined by 
British naturalists, and because those which have 
been seen on our coasts have as yet received very 
limited notice, at least in respect to the number of 
species. In the first place it is highly probable that 
the distribution of this class has never yet been 
completely understood, and that so far from their 
being scarce in the British seas as usually supposed, 
they are tolerably common even now, and were 
doubtlessly more so formerly. I have a most re- 
spectable authority for stating that in the middle 
of July, 1836, several Whales were seen between 
the Azores and the Land’s End. The crew of the 
ship in which he took his passage indeed captured 
one, and one was noticed by him immediately off 
