16 Mr. E. Blyth on the Indian species of Shrews. 



CENS ; and Dr. Cantor describes it as — " Dark brownish-grey 

 above, beneath Hght brownish -grey. Feet and tail flesh-coloured 

 in the living animal, changing to cinereous after death. In the 

 young the colour is more of a bluish-grey, slightly mixed with 

 brown on the back.'^ A stuffed specimen from the Khasya Hills 

 has the fur longer and less dense than in S. c^rulescens, the 

 piles somewhat curly, and colour dark ashy at base, with rufous- 

 brown tips, which give the prevaihng hue. A most obviously 

 distinct species from S. cerulescens. 



We suspect that S. Griffithii, Horsfield, of that naturalist's 

 Catalogue of the specimens of Mammalia in the Honourable Com- 

 pany's Museum, is no other than our presumed murinus from 

 the Arakan and Khasya Hills, although described from Afghan- 

 istan, because we saw a fine skin from Cherra Punji in the 

 possession of the late Mr. Griffith, which was forwarded to the 

 India House by Mr. McClelland; and we have previously had 

 occasion to remark, that specimens of reptiles procured by Mr. 

 Griffith in Afghanistan and in the Khasya Hills, had manifestly 

 become mixed and confounded ; whence certain important mis- 

 takes concerning habitats*. S, Griffithii is described to be 

 affined to S. murinus; "but differing essentially by the uniform 

 deep blackish-brown tint, and the shortness, delicacy and soft- 

 ness of the fur. Colour deep blackish-brown throughout, with 

 a slight rufous reflection in a certain light. Length of head and 

 body, 5f ; tail, 2^ in.'' — Horsfield's Catalogue. 



[From a careful examination of the specimens of S. CiERU- 

 lescens and S. indicus mentioned by Dr. Horsfield in his 

 Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Museum of the East India 

 Company, I am quite persuaded that they are identical, the 

 latter differing from the former in having the fur of the back 

 somewhat more tinged with rufous, and the animal in its mounted 

 state being rather smaller, but the head, teeth and feet are of 

 similar dimensions. "With respect to the comparative length of 

 the tail, no safe conclusion can be formed from specimens from 

 which the bone has been extracted, and the form reproduced 

 according to the fancy of the stuffer. 



The specimen of S. murinus above alluded to by Mr. Blyth 

 differs only from the above-mentioned species in having the fur 

 much longer, being nearly twice the length, amounting to 4"', 

 whilst the fur of S. c^rulescens scarcely exceeds 2'" in length. 

 The colour also is somewhat darker and browner. 



The dimensions of the three specimens in Dr. Horsfield's 

 Catalogue are as follow : — 



* Vide J. A. S. xxii. 413. 



