MAMMALIA. 475 



of Europe, Talpa europoea {pi. 113, fig. 17), is a very troublesome animal in. 

 orchards, gardens, and cultivated lands generally. It was once supposed to 

 exist in North America, but this is now known not to be the case. Three 

 Avell ascertained species of moles have been discovered in a fossil state in 

 the tertiary beds of Europe. The moles are replaced in North America by 

 the two following genera. 



The genus Scalops is strictly North American, and has a long head ter- 

 minated by an extended, cartilaginous, flexible, and pointed snout ; the 

 eyes and ears are concealed by the hair, and very minute. The hind feet 

 are short and slender, with five toes, and delicate hooked nails ; the fore 

 feet or hands are broad, their claws long and flat, fitted, as in the mole, for 

 excavating the earth. The common American shrewmole {S. aquaticus) is 

 an example of this genus. It is spread over a wide area of the United 

 States from Canada to Florida, and westwards as far as Kentucky. Three 

 "or four species more are known. 



The genus Condylura^ also North American, is characterized by qgrtain 

 cutaneous filaments which surround the nostrils and give to the nose a star- 

 like appearance, whence the name of star-nosed mole. The only species of 

 the genus hitherto known is C. cristata. In their feet and their general 

 appearance they resemble the mole, but their tail is longer. 



This family existed in North America during the tertiary epoch, and it is 

 highly probable that species belonging to the above genera will some day be 

 discovered. 



The genus Anomodon rests upon a canine tooth which possesses a general 

 resemblance to those of Scalops, but indicates an animal of a much larger 

 size. The looth itself is much more compressed than in any of the genera 

 of the same family. The remains of the only species were found in the lead 

 region of Illinois together with some pachyderms, of which we have already 

 spoken. 



In Europe is found the genus Bimyhcs, with one *3ecies from the tertiary 

 beds of Wirtemberg, known by a lower jaw in which only two molars are 

 left, possessing a double row of tubercles ; whilst in the genus Talpa, to 

 which it comes nearer, these tubercles fonii three rows. 



Fam. 2. SoRiciD^. This family is composed generally of very small 

 animals, whose body is covered with hair, with the general appearance of 

 the mice, from which they greatly differ in their dentition. The tail is more 

 or less elongated, the body itself disproportionately slender; the limbs short; 

 the snout more or less pointed. They live under the ground, come seldom 

 to the light, and are provided with very minute eyes. Some possess glands 

 emitting peculiar odors. 



The genus Sorex (the shrews) is distinguished from the others of the 

 family by having under the skin, and upon each flank, a small band of stiff 

 thickly set setre, between which, in the rutting season particularly, peculiar 

 glands secrete an odorous fluid. The two upper middle incisors are hooked, 

 and dentated at their base, the lower ones slanted and elongated; on each 

 side, five above and two below, are small false molars, and three bristled or 

 true molars throughout. The slircws live in holes, which they excavate in 



677 



