92 



BEVISIOX OF AMEBIC AX MOLES— TRUE. 



The specimens at command have the tail as follows; 



Cat. number. 



Sex. 



No. 4377, Merr 



No. 2241,IJ.S.N.M 



No. 11143, U.S.N. M 



No. 11245, U.S. N.M 



No. 669, MeiT 



Uunumbered, U. S.N.M. 



Uiinmnbt'red, Merr 



No. 1637, -Merr 



No. ')15, Merr 



No. 668, Merr 



No. .')16, Merr I Female . . 



(Young) 

 Male 



No. 517, Jilerr 



No. .520, Merr 



No. 518, Merr 



No. 519, Merr 



No. 1083. U.S.N.M.. 



No. 52723, 1). A 



No. 52724. D. A 



No. 52725, 1). A 



No. 15225, U.S. N.M. 



May 20 

 June or 

 Julv. 

 July — 

 July 1 

 July 2 

 July 24 

 Aug. 2 

 Oct. 8 

 Nov. 12 

 ....do ... 

 Nov. 24 

 Nov. 25 

 Nov. 26 

 ....do .. 

 ....do.. 



Female . .. 



Male 



Male 



Female . . . 



Male I Dec. 15 



Female ... I Mar. 3 



Male I Mar. 31 



Female ... Apr. 11 

 Mav 15 



Condition of tail. 



Preservation. 



Slender | Alcoholic. 



do Do. 



do Skin. 



do Alcoliolic. 



do Do. 



do I 1)0. 



do i Do. 



do Skin. 



Swollen Do. 



do Alcoholic. 



do Skin. 



...do 



....do 



....do 



do 



do 



Moderately swollen . 



Less swollen 



Moderately swollen. 



Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 



Swollen Alcoliolic. 



Although it is not the intention in this work to describe the anatomy 

 of the various ibrms, in which direction much has been done by the 

 late Dr. Dobson^ and others, it seems desirable to include an account 

 of the nasal disk of Condylura which was published iil)out ten years 

 ago by Mr. II. Ayres. As Mr. Ayre.s's description of tlie anatomy of 

 this remarkable organ is brief, and is included in a pul)lication not 

 everywhere accessible, I have thouglit it desirable to quote it entire: 



The structure and clcvplopment of the rays encircliug the end of the snout in 

 Condylura liave not, so far as I am informed, been described. However, in the 

 related genus Talpa, Eimer^ has studied the structure of the snout of the common 

 European mole, and considers it to be a highly developed tactile organ, on account 

 of the characteristic nerve endings found in the numerous and rounded papilhv cov- 

 ering the surface of the end of the nose. This ilexible snout is sharply marked oft" 

 from the rest of the nose by the entire lack of hair and hair follicles. 



In Condiili(ra the snout is much longer than in Tnlpa, and carries at its distal end 

 a varying number of finger-shaped processes, which bound a cup-shaped or Hat ter- 

 minal disk (fig. 3li), perforated on either side of its center by the oval nostrils (e. n.). 



Instead of a general distribution of the tactile papillae over the surface of the 

 snout itself, such as occurs in Talpa, one finds them confined, for the most part, to 

 the flexible, finger-shaped processes (fig. 36). The papilliv, which are clearly visible 

 to the unaided eye, appear, under a low magnifying power, as uniformly rounded 

 prominences disposed in more or less regular rows, extending in the direction of the 

 long axis of the ray. 



It is evident from the anatomical relationship of the two animals that Condylura 

 is only a highly modified form of Talpa? The lengthened tail, the elongated snout 

 with its remarkable tactile organs, together with the extended skull and the 

 increased number of teeth, are conditions indicating greater specialization; but still 

 easily derivable from the more primitive talpine form. It is (piite apparent that the 

 increase in the extent of the tactile surface and its more definite localization in the 

 case of Condylura are only expressions of the existence of a higher functional 

 activity than is jiossessed by the homologous tract in Talpa. 



• Monograph of the Insectivora. 



«Arch. fiir mikr. Anatomie, VII, 1871, pp. 181-191, pi. 17. 



^To this view of the affinity of the two genera I can not subncribr. F. W. T. 



