442 
COMMOl^^ OTTEH. 
room^ and would lie by night on a bed^ and, dur- 
ing the day-time, on a heap of straw provided for 
it : it would occasionally plunge its head and fore 
feet into a vessel of water, which always stood 
near it; and, after shaking itself, would go 
out into the court yard for exercise, &c. and 
would often sleep in the sunshine. It seemed 
in a manner to have lost the natural habits of its 
kind ; since, being carried one day to a pool of 
water, it seemed afraid, and would not go into it, 
but only wetted its head and feet, as in its cham- 
ber; and when thrown in, to the distance of some 
feet, it instantly made to the shore, as if in a kind 
of alarm, and followed readily to the iVbbey. 
When the Otter, in its natural or uneducated 
state, has caught a fish, it immediately draws it 
ashore, and devours the head and upper parts, 
leaving the remainder; and when in a state of 
captivity, will eat no fish but what is perfectly 
fresh, but will prefer bread, milk, &c. The Ot- 
ter, says BuiFon, is as noxious in a fish-pond as 
the Polecat in a hen-roost; since he frequently 
kills many more fish than he can eat, and then 
carries off one in his teeth. The Otter will some- 
times devour vegetables of different kinds, and 
will gnaw the bark and twigs of young trees. 
The flesh of the Otter is rank and fishy. The 
Romish church permits the use of it on maigre- 
days, and Mr. Pennant declares, that, in the 
kitchen of the Carthusian convent, near Dijon, 
lie saw one preparing for the dinner of the reli- 
