3<D VERTEBRATES : MAMMALS. 



Carolina to Missouri, is about two and a half inches long 

 to the tail, which is three quarters of an inch ; the color 

 dark leaden-gray. 



B. angusticeps, Baird, of Vermont, is over two and a 

 half inches long to the tail, which is one inch ; the color 

 plumbeous. The skull is very narrow. 



The Ash-colored Shrew, B. cinerea, Bach., of Pennsyl- 

 vania to Florida, is two and a half inches long to the tail, 

 which is three quarters of an inch ; the color above iron- 

 gray, light gray beneath. 



The Short-footed Shrew, B. exilipes, Baird, of Texas to 

 Mississippi, is less than two inches long to the tail, which 

 is over half an inch ; the color above hoary olive-brown 

 with a chestnut tinge, grayish white beneath. 



The Genus Mygale comprises the Desmans, which 

 differ from the Shrews in having two very small teeth 

 between the two great incisors of the lower jaw, and in 

 their two upper triangular and flattened incisors. The 

 muzzle extends into a long and flexible proboscis ; their 

 feet are webbed, and they are aquatic in their habits. 

 They inhabit Southern Russia, and one species is found 

 about the streams of the Pyrenees. 



TALPID.E, OR MOLE FAMILY. This family is charac- 

 terized by a stout thick body, with no visible neck or 

 external ears, very short limbs, greatly expanded fore-feet, 

 and strong fossorial claws. The tail is usually short, 

 sometimes nearly as long as the body ; the fur is soft, 

 compact, and velvet-like. Moles are found all over the 

 world except in the inter-tropical regions ; each country, 

 however, has its characteristic genus or genera. 



The Genus Scalops is distinguished by a long, de- 

 pressed muzzle, nostrils at the extremity, and either 

 superior or lateral, hidden eyes, short tail, toes more or 

 less webbed to the claws, teeth thirty-six to forty-four, 

 and the two anterior upper ones very large. 



