9.i 



i^OTES ON BRITISH INSECTIVORA. 

 By JAMES KANKIN, Esq. 



Ladies and Gentlemen, — At the meeting of this Society at Downton Castle I 

 had the honour of making a few remarks to you on the British Cheiroptera, or 

 Bats ; today I propose to say a few words on another order of mammals, which 

 are to a considerable degree allied to bats, and which perform very much the same 

 function on the earth as bats do in the air, namely, devouring insects. 



The order of which I am about to speak to-day, indeed, derives its systematic 

 name from the food which tne animals belonging to it, for the most part, live upon. 

 It is called Insectivora, or insect-eating animals. 



I need hardly say that such a distinction would not be of any scientific im- 

 portance in itself, but it is found that many of the animals which do eat insects 

 are very similar in structure, and ought to be classed together ; and, therefore, 

 naturalists have availed themselves of this functional peculiarity to give a name 

 to the whole order. 



Whether the morphological structure of these animals is consequent upon 

 their eating insects, or whether their eating insects is consequent upon their 

 structure Is a question upon which I shall not enter. 



The animals composing this order are small — some very small indeed — the 

 smallest known mammal, namely, the Etruscan shrew, belongs to this order. 

 They are widely distributed all over the world. Many of them are nocturnal 

 in their habits ; some of them, as the mole, are subterranean. All of them have 

 numerous conical teeth, and generally the number in the two jaws differs ; the 

 teeth of this order very much resemble the teeth of bats, especially in a gap fre- 

 quently found between the front teeth or incisors. The body Is sometimes 

 covered with soft fur, sometimes with sharp spines. The feet have generally five 

 toes, but often only four. 



The feet are always plantigrade, that is, the sole of the foot is placed on 

 the ground in walking as well as the toes. 



The noses or snouts of the Insectivora are usually somewhat long and 

 mobUe, and in some species have a very complicated arrangement at the end. 



Such, then, being some of the leading characteristics of this order, we must 

 now inquire what are the animals which meet these requirements ; in this 

 country it wiU be found that the order is represented by the Mole (Talpa), the 

 Shrews (Sorex), and the Hedgehog (Erinaceus). 



I will now proceed to say a few words on each of these genera separately, and 

 first I wiU take the Mole, whose systematic name is Talpa. 



The common Mole (Talpa-europaia) is too well-known a creature to need any 

 detailed description of its general appearance : it is, when seen above ground, a 



