853 



SORECID.E. 



SORECID.E. 



854 



in contradistinction to the Water-Shrew, there cau be no doubt, as far 

 as this character is concerned, that the continental and British animals 

 may be identical ; and there appears to be no reason, from any other 

 characters, to doubt that such ia the case. That more than one 

 species have been confounded amongst the Common Shrews of this 

 country, I have long entertained a decided prepossession ; but I 

 have not at present sufficient ground to warrant me in describing 

 them as distinct. (' History of British Quadrupeds.') 



Insects and worms are the food of the Common Shrew. Pennant 

 states that it inhabits old walls, heaps of stones, and holes in the 

 earth, and is frequently found near hay-ricks, dunghills, and similar 

 places. The annual autumnal mortality among these animals, at 

 which season (about August) they are so often found dead, has been 

 observed by most, and satisfactorily accounted for by none, as far as 

 we know. Pennant says, and Agricola, as we shall presently see, 

 noticed the fact before him, that cats will kill but not eat them, being 

 probably disgusted by their peculiar and somewhat musky smell ; and 

 the bodies of the dead Shrews have been observed to be marked by a 

 nip near the loins, as if by the bill of some rapacious bird. Kestrels 

 and Owls however are known to prey upon them, and the bones of the 

 head have been found in the stomach of the Barn-Owl. Mr. Turner, 

 ry St. Edmunds, detected among twenty casts from that owl, 

 taki u from a considerable mass, the skeletons of seven Shrews. 



Shrews are very pugnacious ; and Mr. Bell remarks that, if two be 

 confined in a box together, a very short time elapses before the weaker 

 of the two is killed and partly devoured ; he also gives his reasons 

 for supposing that Shrews fall victims to the rapacity of moles. The 

 nest, which is framed of soft grasses and other plants, is generally 

 found in a hole more or less shallow in the ground, or a dry bank, and 

 is entered at the side, being, so to speak, roofed over. Here the 

 female produces in the spring from five to seven little Shrews. 



Among the ancients, the Shrew-Mouse had a very bad reputation. 

 Thus Aristotle declares that its bite is dangerous to horses and other 

 beasts of burden ; and that it is more dangerous if the Shrew-Mouse 

 be with young. The bite, he says, causes boils (QkiiicTcuviu), and these 

 burst, if the Shrew-Mouse be pregnant when she inflicts the wound ; 

 but if she be not, they do not burst. ('Hist. Anim.,' viii., 24.) Pliny 

 states that the bite of the Italian Shrew-Mice is venomous : " In 

 Italia muribus araueis venenatus est morsus." (' Nat. Hist." viii., 58.) 

 With reference to this supposition, it is worthy of remark that the 

 French apply the term Musaraigne, or Musette, to a disease of the 

 horse, which manifests itself in a small tumour (anthrax) on the 

 upper and internal part of the thigh, and is often accompanied by 

 very severe symptoms. 



Agricola. in his book ' De Animantibus Subterraneis,' does not forget 

 the ancient traditions of the Shrew's venom, and thus hands them on : 

 " The Mus aranetu," says be, " took its name among the Latins, 

 because it injects venom from its bite, like a spider." The Greek name, 

 Muyfan, he derives from the facts that it is of the size of a mouse, 

 whilst it is of the colour of a weasel. In his description of the animal, 

 he notices the termination of the teeth in both jaws in bifid points, 

 whence, he remarks, animals bitten by it receive quadrifid wouuda. 

 He telU us that its bite in warm regions is generally pestiferous, but 

 that in cold climates it is not ; consoling those who may suffer by the 

 not unusual assertion in such cases, that the animal itself, torn asunder 

 or dissected and placed upon the wound, is a remedy for its own 

 venom. Agricola states also that cats kill it, but abhorring this same 

 venom, do not eat it. 



This harmless little animal was also an object of fear and super- 

 stition to our ancestors. This is referred to by Mr. Bell in his ' History 

 of British Quadrupeds,' and also by White in his ' Natural History of 

 Selbourne.' 



Common Shrew (Svrcf nranens}. 



The other P.ritish Shrews are the Water-Shrew (S. fodiena, Pallas) ; 

 and the Oared-Shrew (S. remifer, Oeoffroy). 



The Water-Shrew, whone habits are graphically described by Mr. 

 Dovaston in ' London's Magazine ' (ii.), appears to be the Musaraigne 

 d'Eau of the French. The Oared-Shrew seems to have been first 



published as British in Sowerby's 'British Miscellany,' from a specimen 

 taken by Dr. Hooker in Norfolk, under the name of S. ciliatus. 



Under surface of hinder feet of Shrews. (Bell.) 

 a, Common Shrew, b, Water-Shrew, c, Oared-Shrew. 



6'. Indicug, S. myoturus, Pallas, the Musk-Rat of India, has much the 

 same appearance in point of colour and the size of its naked ears as 

 our Common Shrew, but is nearly as large as our common Brown 

 Rat, and the tail is round and thinly furnished with hairs. This 

 species diffuses a most powerful odour of musk, which impregnates 

 everything that is touched by it. It has been alleged that even the 

 wine in a well-corked bottle, over which the animal has run, has been 

 rendered unfit for use in consequence of the flavour imparted to it. 

 Cuvier states that this species is found throughout the East Indies 

 and in a part of Africa, and that it is among the animals embalmed 

 by the ancient Egyptians ; but, according to others, it is S. Olivieri, 

 Desm., which Olivier found in a mummy state in the catacombs of 

 Sakkara. 



Mygale. Great lower incisors having between them two very small 

 teeth. Muzzle in a very small and very moveable proboscis. Ears 

 short. Five unguiculated toes on each foot united by a membrane. 

 Tail long, scaly, compressed laterally. 



Dental Formula : Incisors, -; Canines, -; Molars, 12irl? = 44. 

 '8 '0 ' 77 



Teeth of the upper jaw of Uygale moichata. (F. Cuvier.) 



M. moschata, Castor ni08c7tatug. Linn., appears to be the D&soiau of 

 the ' Fauna Suecica ;' Le Desman of the French ; the Biesamratze of 

 the Germans ; the Wychozhol of the Russians ; and the Muscovy or 

 Musk-Rat of the English. 



Mi;sk-Il:it (Jfyga'e moschatn}. 



The tail is shorter than the body, scaly, nearly naked, contracted at 

 its base, cylindrical, and convex in its middle, very much compressed 

 vertically at its extremity ; fur brown or dusky above, whitish-ash 

 below. Total length, including the tail, about 15 inches, of which the 

 tail measures 8 inches. It is found in the river Volga, and the adjacent 

 lakes from Novgorod to Saratov. 



This species does not appear to have been seen on dry laud ; and 

 indeed it is broadly asserted that it never goes there, but wanders from 

 lake to lake in fortuitous floods only. It is often seen swimming or 

 walking under the water, and coming for air to the surface, where, iu 

 clear weather, it is apt to sport. Stagnant waters shut in by high 

 banks are its favourite localities, and in such places it makes burrowa 



