1 68 INSECTIVORA. 



into a tube which terminates in a naked bulb. The eyes and ears are 

 concealed. The tail is long and hairy ; all the leet covered with small 

 plates ; the fur is brown. 



GlHHs" Mole. L'rotru/iiis Gihbsii, is the name given to the species found 

 near the White River, Cascade Mountains. It is of a sooty color, and 

 smaller than the Japanese variety. The skull is broader, and narrows 

 anteriorly more abruptly than in Scalops; but the specimen examined by 

 Professor Baird was injured and not quite mature, so that he could not 

 make out many of its characteristics. 



THE SORICID.-E OR SHREWS. 



This famih' contains out- genus, and sixty-Jii'c species. We content 

 ourselves with a description of tho more important species, especially 

 those belonging to our own countr}-. 



GENUS SOREX. 



The Shrews offer examples of the smallest animals in the class Mam- 

 malia, some species being much smaller than the mouse. Like Moles, they 

 have defective vision; the hair is silky, thick, and varving in color be- 

 tween a gray and a brown ; thev feed on worms and insects, leading a 

 solitary lite in holes, which they seldom leave during the dav. Thev are 

 furnished with glands in the tlank which secrete a musky odor. Their 

 bite was for a long time considered poisonous : and our ancestors gave 

 the name to a scolding woman, whom, on account of the venom of her 

 tongue, they called </ s/iriw. 



The Shrew Mouse, Sorex vulgaris, has a long head and a long and 

 flexible snout ; the incisors are extremelv long, the lower ones projecting 

 almost horizontally. It is common in all parts of England. A Natural 

 History published in 1658 gives the following quaint account of it : 



'•It is a ravening beast, feigning itself gentle and tame, but, being 

 touched, it biteth deep, and povsoneth dcadlv. It beareth a cruel minde, 

 desiring to hurt anvthing, neither is there anv creature that it loveth, or 

 that loveth him, because it is feared of all. The cats, as we have said, do 

 hunt it, and kill it, but thev eat not them, for if they do. they consume 

 away and die. They annov vines, and are seldom taken, except in cold; 



