2f>4 
OTTER. 
out by his son to fish, instead of returning as usual, 
it refused to come at the accustomed call, and was 
lost. The father tried every means to recover it ; 
and after several days search, being near the place 
where his son had lost it, and calling it by its name, 
to his inexpressible joy it came creeping to his feet, 
and showed many genuine marks of affection and 
firm attachment. 
The otter generally measures about two feet from 
the tip of the nose to the base of the tail ; the 
length of the tail is fifteen or sixteen inches ; a 
male weighs from eighteen to twenty-six pounds: 
the female from eighteen to twenty-two. The co- 
lour of the body is deep brown ; the legs are short 
and thick, and perform the part of fins, each toe 
being connected to the other by a broad and strong 
web. 
These animals are found in most of the northern 
parts of Europe. They inhabit America as far 
north as Hudson’s Ba}^ and are likewise found in 
Kamtschatka, where the inhabitants usually hunt 
them with dogs in time of deep snow, when the 
otters wander too far from the banks of rivers. 
There is another species called sea-otters, from 
their inhabiting that element, whose hind feet ex- 
actly resemble those of a seal. They have a very 
thick skin, covered with long, black, and glossy 
hair. They grow to a much larger size than the 
common otter, some of the largest weighing seventy 
or eighty pounds. 
