THE DESMANS. 167 



passages thickly covered with hair, the nose is elongated into a pro- 

 boscis and the nasal aperture can be closed with a small flap. 



On account of its aquatic propensities, and the peculiar aspect of its 

 incisor teeth, the Desman was formerly thought to be a rodent animal, 

 and allied to the beavers, among which creatures it was classed under 

 the name of Castor mosckatus, or Musky Beaver. Its fur is much esteemed 

 on account of its ricr color, long silky texture, and warm character. The 

 color of the Russian Desman is brown on the upper portions of the body, 

 becoming darker on the flanks, and fading suddenly into silvery-white on 

 the abdomen. The peculiar warmth of the fur is owing to a thick, inner 

 coating of fine hair beneath the long, silken hairs of the exterior. 



The tail of this animal is shorter than the body, and very remarkable 

 in its shape, for at its base it is compressed, but rapidly becomes rounded 

 and swells with such abruptness that it may almost deserve the term of 

 bulbous. It then decreases in size as rapidly as it had increased, and, in 

 proportion as it becomes smaller, it becomes vertically compressed. The 

 entire member is, like that of the beaver, thickly set with scales, through 

 the intervals of which protrude a number of short and bristly isolated 

 hairs. 



VII.— GENUS NECTOGALE. 



Some specimens of Desman-like animals found in Thibet, have been 

 described by the eminent French naturalist Milne-Edwards, and raised 

 to the dignity of a separate genus, to which he has given the name of 

 Nectogale. They are closely allied to the members of the genus Myo- 

 gale. The remoteness of the locality in which they were discovered 

 seems to have had some influence in suggesting the creation of a new 

 genus, just as the wide separation of the two Desmans has led to the 

 division into two species. 



VIII.— GENUS UROTRICHUS. 



This genus is represented by a shrew-like mole, which was discovered 

 about twenty years ago in Japan, and a species more recently found in 

 Washington Territory. It seems to form a link, through the Condylura, 

 between the Shrews and the Moles. 



The Japanese Mole, Urotrkhus talpoidcs, has a muzzle prolonged 



