164 . 
CARNIVORA. 
THE SEA OTTER. EE LOUTRE DE MER. 
Miistela Lutris, 
This is full twice the size of the common otter : 
the body is very long, and the tail about one third 
the length of the body. Its skin, shining like velvet, 
is the most esteemed of all furs, and consequently 
the most expensive. It is black, with a shade of 
brown ; but, about the head, there are, in general, 
some white hairs The hinder legs, in particular, 
are very short, and placed nearer the anus than 
in quadrupeds in general, which assimilates it to^ 
the seal, to which it bears a considerable general 
affinity. It sometimes weighs as much as seventy 
or even eighty pounds. It is found, perhaps ex- 
clusively, in the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean, 
where the Asiatic and American continents nearly 
approach each other, and in the intervening islands. 
It is said, that a single skin is sometimes sold, in the 
Chinese or Japanese markets, for upwards of twenty 
pounds sterling. 
In the eighty-sixth volume of the Philosophical 
Transactions is a very elaborate description of the 
anatomy of the sea otter, by Sir Everard Home and 
Mr. Menzies. The subject was taken near -Queen 
* The white hairs prevail, more or less, in different individuals.^ 
