Bibliographical Notices. 437 



The species here indicated are nearly identical with those adopted 

 by Nathusius* ; and it is satisfactory to find two authors, who ap- 

 pear to have bestowed equal pains upon the subject, agree in their 

 estimation of what are to be considered good species in a group, 

 which, almost as much as any that can be mentioned, abounds in 

 spurious ones. M. De Selys-Longchamps has announced the fact 

 that there are more than eighteen names to choose out of for the 

 common water-shrew ; and Nathusius has annexed nearly two-third3 

 that number of synonyms to the S. tetragonurus ! The only respects 

 in which the list of species in this work differs from that of Nathu- 

 sius, are the adoption of the S. alpinus of Schinz, which Nathusius 

 does not appear to have personally examined, and the S. ciliatus of 

 Sowerby. With regard to this last, however, it is justly observed, 

 that there are many specimens apparently so intermediate between 

 it and 5. fodiens, that the two may yet prove to be varieties of one 

 species, as Nathusius seems to have considered them. 



As for the species described for the first time by Mr. Jenyns in 

 former numbers of this Magazine, M. De Selys-Longchamps, not 

 having seen them before the publication of his work, has placed them 

 in an Appendix, in which he has presented in a tabular form the 

 distinguishing characters of S. tetragonurus, S. rusticus, and S. 

 castaneus, as Mr. Jenyns has stated them. At the same time he 

 observes that those of the S. i-usticus appear very marked, and apply 

 well to a small shrew found by himself in one instance in the pro- 

 vince of Liege, and which he had previously considered as a young 

 S. tetragonurus. He has made a similar observation with respect 

 to the 5. labiosus of Jenyns, the characters of which he briefly no- 

 tices, adding that it agrees well with an individual seen by him at 

 Francfort-on-Main, obtained by Dr. Cretschmar ; though, without an 

 opportunity of inspecting recent individuals, he does not venture to 

 introduce it as an authentic species. Since the publication of his 

 book, M. De Selys-Longchamps has visited this country, when Mr. 

 Jenyns's species were submitted to his examination. He still de- 

 clined offering any decided opinion about the S. labiosus and the S. 

 castaneus ; but he expressed himself quite satisfied, that the small 

 shrew found in Ireland, considered by Mr. Jenyns as a variety of his 

 S. rusticus, was perfectly distinct from the S. tetragonurus f. 



* Wiegmann's Archiv fur Naturgeschichte, 1838, p. 45. 



f The name of Hibernicus will hardly be appropriate for this species, as 

 it has been found in several parts of England also; but if it be proved, as 

 Mr. Jenyns suspects will eventually be the case, to be not specifically distinct 

 from the shrew which he originally called rusticus, it may be retained under 

 this last name, without having recourse to any new one. Mr. Jenyns will, 

 before long, probably offer some remarks on this point. 



