THE INSECT-EATERS. 



shortened. Exactly the opposite is seen in 

 the burrowing Insectivora, for example in 

 the moles, in which the fore-limbs undergo 

 the greatest modifications. The fore-foot is 

 greatly increased in breadth and gets turned 

 outwards, and a special subsidiary bone having 

 the form of a bent ploughshare is frequently 

 associated with the strong, flat, closely con- 

 nected fingers, which are armed with long 

 sharp claws. This powerful delving imple- 

 ment requires also strong muscles to move it, 

 and thus leads to a quite peculiar structure 

 of the bones of the fore-limbs, which are 

 unusually short and broad, and have very 

 pronounced ridges for the attachment of the 

 muscles. In the genera which live in the 

 water the toes are webbed, in all the others 

 there are generally short walking legs with 

 curved claws. 



The tail varies greatly in length. In the 

 climbing, leaping, and running forms it is 

 long, sometimes densely covered with hair, 

 sometimes almost quite naked; in others it 

 is short, sometimes altogether absent. 



The Insectivora are for the most part very 

 prolific, a fact indicated by the large number 

 of teats, of which there may be as many as 

 five pairs arranged in two rows along the 

 abdomen as far as the chest. The shapeless, 

 naked, large-headed, blind young ones come 

 into the world in a very helpless condition, 

 and generally lie several weeks in the nest 

 before they learn to run. The placenta is 

 discoidal, but shows a very low degree of 

 internal development. The organs of repro- 

 duction, especially in the male, agree most 

 closely with those of the rodents. 



As the last peculiarity of this group we 

 must mention the large superficial glands 

 occurring in many genera. These diffuse 

 a penetrating musky odour, and are some- 

 times found at the sides near the middle of 

 the back, as in the shrews, but mostly in the 

 hinder parts of the body near the anus. 



The Insectivora are almost all nocturnal 

 animals, and many of them live altogether 



under the earth in burrows made by them- 

 selves. Only the climbers and springers of 

 southern latitudes carry on their hunt by day; 

 the others leave their holes and corners only 

 at sunset, and even hunt under the earth or 

 in the water. They are unsocial, mostly soli- 

 tary animals, which are found together only 

 in the pairing season. Many of them are 

 so fierce and insatiable that they even attack 

 and consume their own kind. It is asserted 

 that the moles and shrews eat in a single day 

 as much as they themselves weigh; but I am 

 not aware that accurate observations have 

 been made on the subject. Their food con- 

 sists chiefly of insects, spiders, and so forth; 

 but most of the species do not despise other 

 animal food also, and many attack even much 

 larger and stronger animals with savage fury. 

 Their voracity makes them uncommonly 

 useful to man, to whom they render material 

 assistance in his incessant war against vermin. 

 Since the dentition is, as we have seen, 

 extraordinarily varied and affords no general 

 marks of distinction, we divide the Insectivora 

 in accordance with their habits. 



BANXRINGS OR CLIMBERS. 



(TUPAI^). 



Resembling squirrels, with sharp naked proboscis, and 

 long tufted tail. 



This group is composed of several closely 

 allied genera, the dentition of which has a 

 primitive character, inasmuch as incisors, 

 canines, and premolars stand apart from one 

 another and are scarcely different in form 

 and size. The typical genus, Cladobates 

 (Tupaia), has 38 teeth; another, Ptilocer- 

 cus, has 42 teeth; and the third, Hylomys, 

 as many as 44. These lively and elegant 

 climbers, the largest species of which, the 

 Tana or Banxring (Cladobates Tana), shown 

 in fig. 46, is somewhat like a squirrel in size 

 and appearance, live in the forests of India 

 and the Sunda Islands. Their soft velvety 

 fur shows gray, brownish, and greenish 



