44 U. Ss. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
The cranium is too much mutilated to allow its shape to be determined, though the skull 
2 
generally appears to be much like that of B. talpoides. The dental formula is 5 + = -- —— 32. 
The anterior incisors are large and acute, placed quite close to each other. There is no interna] 
lobe, and there is no second hook at the base of the tooth distinct from the tip, as in some 
American species. There is, however, a sharp lobe at the base, nearly rectangular, with a 
slight angle in the anterior edge. The first two premolar teeth are much the largest ; they are 
pyramidal acute, and like the basal lobe of the anterior, with a small process in the inner side. 
The third and fourth lateral teeth are much smaller than the first and second, simply acute ; 
the fourth nearly twice the third, and separated by a slight diastema from the first molar; the 
fifth tooth is very small, but visible from outside. The lower incisors are large, thick, and 
much curved, with two lobes on the upper edge. All the teeth have their crowns and points of 
a deep pitchy black, especially towards the latter. 
Measurements of 708. 
Before skinning. Dried. 
Inches. Lines. 
INOBeILORODt Of talle osama =e eee it ee ee aro | 3 6 3.1 
Marlstoend ot wertebie-—s=se= oe a= eee ee EEE pene Sano - 8t 
DeoniliveyGru loi epg see pees Seo Soo s see | 103 -10 
Hore} teen LOM AWE ise se a ee lero WS, ts ee | 443 
Hondiiteetaromy heel. eee ene Ne ee eee ee Bees ese eeee a | - 6} 
Widiinoh palit tt fasts Cee NAL Na tee ce mere 
Width tipper jaws- =e — eae ae eee ee ee — | Se See 3; 
The specimen 2152, from the Little Blue creek, Nebraska, agrees very well with this speci- 
men, more so than with those from Fort Berthold and Iowa. The same may be said of the 
number 2063 from Illinois. 
I have found very great difficulty in identifying with any certainty the Sorex brevicaudus of 
Say, at least in the references to this species, as supposed to be found in the eastern portion of 
the continent. I have, however, I think, discovered it in some specimens of very large size 
from Nebraska and Iowa, localities nearer to that of the original specimen (Council Bluffs) than 
of any specimens yet described. As most of Say’s descriptions of vertebrata in Long’s narra- 
tive were taken before the animals were skinned, the measurement from tip of nose to root of 
tail of 38 inches, or 3.62, must be considered as indicative of a size greater than usual in the 
S. talpoides (or dekayi), in which these dimensions are only once or twice noted in measurements 
of about one hundred specimens. 
The shrews in question are not only larger in body than any seen from the eastern States, 
but there is a very conspicuous superiority in the size of their skulls, a point of great import- 
ance in this group. The only specimen in alcohol is unfortunately too much mutilated to fur- 
nish a true length, but it is proportionally much larger than the largest fresh specimen I have 
ever seen from the east, as will be seen by the comparative table of measurements. 
