on the Genus Scalops. 33 



Dental formula. Incisors | ; false molars |J ; true mo- 

 lars I =44. 



The skull of Sc. Breweri is narrower and more elongated 

 than that of the Sc. aquaticus. The cerebral portion of the 

 skull is less voluminous ; the inter-orbital portion is narrower, 

 each of the intermaxillary bones in Sc. aquaticus^ throws out 

 a process which projects upwards and forms the upper boun- 

 dary of the nasal cavity, and are very slightly separated by 

 the nasal bones, whilst in Sc. Breweri^ these processes are 

 shorter, and scarcely project upwards above the plane of the 

 nasal bone. Thus, when we view the snout of the Sc. aquat- 

 icus, laterally, it is distinctly recurved at the tip ; whereas in 

 Sc. Breweri the upper surface is almost plane. But the most 

 striking difference between these skulls is exhibited in the 

 dentition, inasmuch asj in our present species, there are alto- 

 gether 44 teeth, in Sc. aquaticus there are but 36. Thus, in 

 the number of teeth Sc. Breweri resembles Sc. Townsendi. 



The body of Brewer's shrew-mole is perhaps a little larger 

 than that of the Sc. aquaticus. Its snout is less flattened 

 and narrower ; its nostrils, instead of being inserted in a kind 

 of bouton, as in the European Talpa, and the swine, or on 

 the upper surface of the muzzle as in the common shrew- 

 mole, are placed on each side, near the extremities of the 

 nose. This species is pentadactylous, like all the rest of the 

 genus. Claws longer, thinner, and sharper than the common 

 shrew-mole. Palm much narrower. Its most striking pecu- 

 liarity however, is its tail, which, instead of being round and 

 nearly naked, like that of the Sc. aquaticus^ is flat and broad, 

 resembling in some respects that of the Beaver, and is very 

 thickly clothed, above and beneath, with long stifi" hairs, 

 which extend five lines beyond the vertebrae. 



Color. The color, above and beneath, is a glossy cinereous 

 black, like velvet, precisely similar to that of the European 

 mole ( Talpa Europcea) with which I have compared it. Un- 

 der the throat there is a slight tinge of brown, the tail is ashy 

 brown above and light beneath. The fur is about one-third 

 longer than that of the common shrew-mole. 



5 



