SEA OTTER. 
*' The Sea Otter has a black nose ; and the 
•upper jaw is larger and broader than the lower. 
It has long white whiskers ; the irides are hazel ; 
and the ears are small, erect, and conic. In 
the upper jaw are six cutring teeth ; in the 
lower, four. The grindeis are broad, adapted 
for breakino- and comminuting; crusraceoiis 
animals and shell-fish. The skin is thick : 
the hair, which is thick and long, is exces- 
sively black and glossy ; and, benearh it, there 
is a soft down. The colour sometimes varies 
to silverv. The len;s are thick and short : the 
toes are covered with h^iir, and joined by ?. web. 
The hind feet are exactly like those jf a Seal, 
and have a membrane skirting the outside of 
the exterior, like that of a Goose. The 
length, from nose to tail, is usually about three 
feet ; but there have been instances of seme 
being a foot longer, 'i'he tail, which is thir- 
teen inches and a half long, is flat, fullest of 
hair in the middle, and siiarp-point? :. The 
biggest of these animals weigh seventy or 
cigiuy pounds. They inhal it, in vast abun- 
dance, Bering's Island, Kamtschatka, the Aleu- 
tian and the Fox Islands between Asia and Ame- 
rica, 
