NEOMYS 127 



always touching, they usually meet sooner, and where they 

 approach each other a small process or fusion often joins 

 them together. The upper unicuspids have their bases more 

 dilated than in Sorex ; the first and second are of about 

 equal size and more prominent than the second cusp of the 

 central incisors (the three are about equally prominent in 

 Sorex) ; the third is smaller than the first and second ; the 

 fourth is minute, and, being situated somewhat inwards of 

 the line of teeth, is partially concealed by its neighbours. 



In the lower jaw the middle incisors are more produced than 

 in Sorex, and their upper margin shows only one serration, an 

 obtuse prominence situated near the base and wearing away 

 with age. Of the two following teeth the second is the larger, 

 and is quite distinctly forked, the posterior cusp being but little 

 inferior to the anterior. (The teeth of the Water Shrew were 

 well described by Jenyns in Mag. ZooL and Bot., 1838, 31.) 



The main cusps are coloured brown as in Sorex, but less 

 markedly so, and as the animal grows older the wearing down 

 of the colouring matter is so considerable that there may 

 eventually remain no trace of it. 



The most nearly allied genera have been indicated under 

 Sorex. The genus is not represented in America, but the 

 shrews of the Soricine sub-genus Neosorex are stated to possess 

 almost identical habits and a very similar external appearance. 



Except that they are directly fitted for an aquatic life, and 

 their blunt snouts are not so suited for searching for insects 

 in minute crevices, the habits and temperament of the water 

 shrews do not differ strikingly from those of the preceding 

 genus. In fact, they are not by any means restricted to the 

 neighbourhood of water, but are capable of living, although 

 perhaps only for limited periods, in quite dry districts, and 

 they climb with much skill. Being larger and stronger animals 

 than the other shrews, they frequently attack small vertebrates, 

 and more readily submit to captivity. Their dead carcases are 

 not encountered in anything like the numbers prevailing in the 

 case of the land shrews, so that perhaps they live to a greater 

 age. 



