102 INSECTIVORA. 



catches little animals that come witliin ils reach, and (ears tlicm to 

 pieces with its powerful claws just as a hawk tears his victim with his 

 talons. 



THE ALMIQUI. 



The Almiqui, Solcnodon paradoxus, is peculiar to Hayti. The fur ot 

 the Almiqui is long, harsh, and coarse, and its color is an undecided red, 

 tinged with )'ellow. Tiie nose is elongated, and strengthened at its base 

 by a slentler bone, so that it appears to be intendeti for digging in the 

 carlh. ri>e nostrils are placed a( ihc exlreinity, and divided l)y a 

 furrow. The cheeks and lips have hairs of very great length ; the eyes 

 are small ; the ears are moderate, rounded, and almost devoid of hair. 

 The feet are terminated witli five toes, and the long claws are curved, 

 and evident ly fitted lor sirapiiig at tlic soil. 



The tail is moderately long, measuring about nine inches in length, 

 and is rounded thrt)ught)ut, tiie head and body being rather more than 

 a foot long. The tail is not covered with iiair, but is ratlier naked, and 

 for the greater part of its length is scaly. Tlie lower jaw is somewhat 

 8lu)rter tiian tlie upper. 'I'lie teeth are ver\- [peculiar. Tlie two nudille 

 mcisors of the lower jaw are small and narrow, placed between two long- 

 conical ones, which are hollowed on the inside by a deep groove ; there 

 are no true canines. 



THE OTTER SHREW. 



The familv roTAMOG.M.lD.v, consists of one genus and otr species, and 

 is founded on a curious otterlike animal from West Africa, discovered by 

 Du Chaillu at tlie Gaboon; it has affinities with several groups of Insec- 

 tivora, but is sufficiently peculiar to require a distinct family for its 

 reception. 



The OrTl'.R Shricw, Potanios^alc vclox, is thus described: "The head 

 is long and verv flat, the nose sharp, eyes very small, ears small and 

 spaiingly covered with hair; whiskers stifl", and white-colored, neck 

 tiiick, body stout, extremities small, feet live-toed, plantigrade behind, 

 t;iil stout, com|)rcssed hitenilly. Fur short, dense and soft, with coarser 

 hair mixed with the tnie fur on the u]tper part of the bod}- ; three- 

 fourths of the tail is covered with very short, bristly antl closely ap|>lii(l 

 hairs forming a crest along the u])per edge. Color dark-brown on Ixuk, 



