M U S 
MUS'TEL A, J. [Lat. from mils, a moufe, and tela, a 
web, on account of the webbed feet and broad tails of 
fome of the fpecies.] In zoology, a genus of quadrupeds 
of tlieclafs mammalia, order ferse, including the Otter, 
Weasel, Ferret, Sable, &c. Generic charafters—Up¬ 
per fore-teeth fix, ere6I, acute, diftindl; lower fix, which 
are more obtufe, and cro'wded: two are placed within. 
In a variety of circumffances otters and weafels relem- 
ble each other. Their bodies are long, and of the fame 
thicknefs ; their feet are fliort, hair (hining,-and claws 
immovable 5 they burrow in the ground ;• prowl and prey 
by night. But the otters live moftiy in water, fwim on 
the furface and under it, and feed chiefly on fifli: they 
do not climb, nor leap with the body curved, and tail 
ftretched, like the weafels: the head is larger and thicker; 
the tongue is ft re wed with foft prickles. Otters have five 
grinders in each jaw, on each fide; weafels have four, five, 
or fix. 
Naturalifts are very much divided in their methods of 
clafling animal's of the kind now under confideration. 
Mr. Pennant, who is followed by Dr. Shaw, unites the 
genus Muftela with the Viverra-; but Mr. Pennant in¬ 
cludes in his genus the race of otters; Dr. Shaw preferves 
the otters in a diftincl genus, which he calls Lutra. We, 
of courfe, follow the Linnasan fyftem, as improved by 
Gmelin; in which the otters, whofe hind-feet are pal¬ 
mate, are placed together in a feflion preceding the wea¬ 
fels, whofe feet are cleft like moft other quadrupeds. 
I. Otters. Hind-feet palmate; tongue rough. 
1. Muftela lutris, the fea-otter. Specific character, 
liind-feet hairy; tail one-fourth part as long as the body. 
This is one of the largeft of the otters, meafuring about 
three feet from the nofe to the tail, and the tail is thir¬ 
teen inches long. The colour of this fpecies is a deep, 
glofly, brownilh-black ; the fur being extremely foft and 
very fine ; the hind-feet refemble thole of the fieai, the 
toes being connedted by a ftrong granulated membrane, 
with a Ikin Ikirting the outward toe, as in fome of the 
water-fowl; the tail is lhort, broad, deprelfed, and pointed 
at the end. The fea-otter has been found to weigh fe- 
venty or eighty pounds. It is met with in great abund¬ 
ance in Behring’s illands, Kamtfchatka, and the Aleutian 
or Fox illands, between Alia and America. They will 
fometimes come on Ihore in the Kurile-illands, but are 
never leen in the channel between the north-eaft of Siberia 
and America. They breed once a-year, and are fuppofed 
to bring but one at a time : they are extremely harmlels 
animals, and Angularly affectionate to their young. This 
animal is killed for its Ikin ; which is one of the moft 
valuable of furs, being fometimes fold for 25I. to the 
Chinefe. Sea-otters are fometimes taken with nets, but 
more frequently deftroyed with clubs and fpears. They 
are moft harmlefs and inoftenlive creatures, moft affec¬ 
tionate to their young; they will pine to death'for the 
lofspf them, and die on the-very fpot where they have 
been taken from them. Before the young can fwim, they 
carry.them in their paws, lying in the water on their 
backs: they are fwift in running, and very fportive : they 
embrace and feem to kifs each other: they fwim often 
on their backs, on their fides, and even in a perpendicu¬ 
lar pofture. They inhabit fuch lhallows as abound with 
fea-weeds; and feed on lobfters, filh; fepise, and Ihell-filh : 
they breed only once a-year, bring but one a time, and 
fuckle it for a year. The young are reckoned fuch deli¬ 
cate meat, that their flelli is fcarcely to be diftinguifhed 
from that of a fucking lamb. This is reprefented on the 
annexed Plate, at fig- i ; 
( 3 . M. lutris Brafilienfis, the Brafilian otter: black, 
Jfeith a yellow fpot under the throat. This South-Ame- 
rican- variety 1 has a round head, like that of a cat; it has 
feline teeth too; eyes final!, round, and black: large 
whilkers, and round ears ; its tail, which is flat and 
naked, reaches no lower than the feet 5 its hair is foft, 
and not long. It is entirely black, except the head, wliiclj 
VOL. XVI. No. lizz. 
TELA. 409 
is dulky, and the throat, which is yellow : it is about the 
bulk of a middling dog : it inhabits Brafil, Guiana, and 
the borders of Oronoko: it lives on fifli, and cruftaceous 
animals, fuch as cray-fifli, and is very dextrous in robbing 
nets of what it finds in them : it makes a noife like a young 
puppy. Its flefli is reckoned delicate eating, and does 
not talle filliy, notvvithftanding its food. They are ex¬ 
tremely cleanly, live in fociety, and go in troops; they 
are fierce, and make a vigorous defence againft dogs ; but, 
when taken young, may be tamed. 
2. Muftela Paragbenlis, the Paragay otter: mixed grey 
and black ; feet palmate. Inhabits the Rio de la Plata : 
fize of a cat; fur velvety ; flefli delicate. 
3. Muftela Chilenfis, the Chilian otter: tail long and 
round ; feet very hairy. Inhabits the coaft of Chili. 
4. Muftela-felina, the chinchimen : ftiape and appear¬ 
ance of a cat. This is another Chilian otter; perhaps 
the fame. Its head, whilkers, ears, eyes, fliape, and length 
of the tail, exadlly refemble the domeftic cat; its feet are 
furniflied with ftrong crooked claws. The body is co¬ 
vered with two forts of hair ; one very fliort and fine, the 
other long and rough. Length from nofe to tail twenty 
inches. It inhabits the fea, and very feldom .quits that 
element; goes always in pairs ; loves to balk in the fun ; 
creeps to the fummits of the rock, where it is taken in, 
traps: has a hoarfe voice, and all the fiercenefs of the 
wild cat. Molina's Chili, 265. 
5. Muftela lutra, the common otter: hind-feet naked; 
tail half the length of the body. This is the greater otter 
of Pennant; and is found in almoft every part of Europe, 
as well as in the colder regions of Alia; inhabiting the 
banks of rivers, and feeding principally on filh. It is 
alfo to be met with in the northern parts of America, 
where it grows-to a much larger fize than the European 
fpecies ; but in the river Euphrates it is found no larger 
than a common cat: this, perhaps, is a different fpecies. 
The ufual length of the common otter is nearly two feet, 
with a tail of fixteen inches. The colour of the whole 
animal is brown, with fome patches of different colours. 
The head.is broad and flat; the mouth fmall; the teeth 
ftrong 5 the lips very mufcular; the ears fliort and round¬ 
ed ; the eyes are fmall, and the neck very thick; the 
legs are fliort and thick, loofely joined to the body, and 
fo placed as to be capable of being brought on a line with 
the body, and of performing the office of fins ; the toes, 
which are five in number on all the feet, are connected by 
broad ftrong webs, and the whole foot is naked, or with¬ 
out hair. 
The otter fliows great fagacity in forming its habita¬ 
tion ; it burrows under ground, in the banks of lorae 
river or lake ; and always makes the entrance of its hole 
under water ; working upwards to the furface of the 
earth ; and, before it reaches the top, makes feveral 
lodges, that in cafe of floods it may have a retreat ; to all 
thele it forms an orifice for the admiffion of the air. The 
natural food of the common otter is fifli; but, when the 
weather is hard,-and it is-hardly driven for food, it" will 
attack the fmaller quadrupeds, as well as poultry. The 
female produces four or five young at a birth ; and the 
male calls the female-by a foft murmuring cry. 
The otter is naturally a very fierce animal; and, when 
hunted with dogs, as is fometimes the practice, will in- 
ftidl very fevere wounds on its antagonifts. But the young 
otters, if taken at a very early age, may be fuccelsfully 
tamed, and taught by degrees to hunt for filh, and bring 
them to their matter. This taming of otters, and em¬ 
ploying them in fifiring, is mentioned by Aldrovandus 
(from Albertus Magnus) as a circumftance familiarly 
known, and more efpecially, according to Albertus, in 
Sweden, where he tells us that, in the houfes of the great, 
thefe animals were kept for that purpofe, and would go 
out, at a fignal from the cook, catch fifli, and bring it 
into the kitchen.in order to be drelied for dinner! 
Button, in bis defeription of the otter, given in the 
7th volume of his Nat. Hill, feems inclined to doubt the 
5 M reality 
