458 
THE OTTER. 
when in captivity. The coatimondi, on the 
contrary, is very quiet and sedate, and seems 
to possess more intellect than his volatile 
brother. At the same time, he has not so 
good a temper, and is apt to avenge him¬ 
self for real or fancied affronts. All the 
coatis have a strong, disagreeable smell. 
“We must now give a few moments to 
otters and seals,—which will finish our lec¬ 
ture. They are both amphibious animals, 
and the latter spends most of its time in 
the water. The river otter is deep brown, 
with grayish or brownish white upon the 
head and breast. The head is wide and 
flat, the eyes small, the ears small and 
round and capable of being partially closed. 
The legs are very thick, the legs very short, 
muscular and flexible; the feet have five 
sharp-clawed toes, with membranes between 
them; the tail is very long and muscular and 
probably assists the animal in swimming. 
The fur is short, glossy and thick. The 
otter lives almost entirely upon fish. It is 
sometimes accused of killing young lambs ; 
but the story is not very probable. It runs 
upon land with tolerable speed; but it is in 
the water that its agility is best displayed. 
