SHREW-MOLESHROPSHIRE. 



239 



discharged from th& gun, the four branches or arms 

 extend every way from the link in the centre. 

 These are chiefly intended to destroy the sails or 

 rigging; but their flight and execution are very 

 precarious at any considerable distance. 



SHREW-MOLE (scalops, Cuv.); head elon- 

 gated and terminating in an extended and cartila- 

 ginous snout, which is very flexible; eyes exceed- 

 ingly small, and entirely concealed by the hair, re- 

 quiring the closest attention for their detection. 

 The auricle is entirely wanting, and the integument 

 of the head nearly covers the tube leading to the 

 internal ear. The feet are very short, and five- 

 toed ; the fore feet terminate in a remarkably large 

 hand, of which the fingers are armed with long, flat 

 and linear nails. The hind feet are very delicate, 

 and the toes are provided with small hooked nails. 

 When at rest, the shrew-mole resembles a small 

 stuffed sack. This animal is found abundantly in 

 North America, from Canada to Virginia. He 

 burrows with great quickness. His soft and pol- 

 ished fur, preventing friction, tends to facilitate his 

 subterranean march. Numerous galleries, commu- 

 nicating with each other, enable the animal to travel 

 in various directions without coming to the surface. 

 Under ordinary circumstances, the burrows are 

 simply oval-arched galleries, running forward, either 

 straight or in gentle curvatures; sometimes only 

 one to three inches deep, at other times much 

 deeper. His favourite food is the earth-worm; 

 and he destroys grubs, and insects of various kinds, 

 in great quantities. In the winter, he burrows 

 near streams, where the ground is not so deeply 

 frozen. The shrew-mole is not only able to make 

 his way rapidly under ground, but can run quite 

 fast when on the surface. If you attempt to 

 draw him, by his posterior extremities, out of his 

 hole, he clings by his fore paws with great force, 

 and, when finally dragged out, frequently inflicts a 

 severe bite on his disturber. Shrew-moles are most 

 active early in the morning and at mid-day. The 

 precision with which these creatures daily come to 

 the surface at twelve o'clock, is remarkable. The 

 shrew-mole is covered with a bright glossy fur, 

 about half an inch in length, and of a bright plum- 

 beous colour, very closely set, and in all parts di- 

 rected backward. The whole fore arm is concealed 

 by the skin, leaving the broadly expanded palm, 

 with its fore nails, projecting from the fore part of 

 the body in an awkward manner, if compared with 

 the interior extremity of other animals. The snout 

 is composed of a cartilage, articulated with the 

 premaxillary bones, and is moved in various di- 

 rections by muscles situated on the side of the 

 head ; it is naked, and of a very light flesh-colour. 

 The mouth is large, and the size of the tongue 

 considerable. The eyes are difficult to be disco- 

 vered externally, without a good glass. The eye- 

 balls are less in size than a grain of mustard seed. 

 The aperture of the eye-lids will about allow the 

 passage of an ordinary sized human hair. The 

 vision of this animal seems to be barely sufficient to 

 give him an intimation of light, without allowing 

 him to distinguish the figures of bodies. His 

 whole structure seems to be studied with a view 

 to facilitate his progress under the earth. The 

 total length, from the point of the snoot to the be- 

 ginning of the tail, is five inches, and the tail is 

 one inch long; the longest fur on the body, half 

 an inch in length. A living specimen, kept for 

 many weeks in a room, spent the greater part of 

 the day in sleep, and was very active at night. He 



could not see in any light, as he uniformly ran hi? 

 nose with some violence against every obstacle 

 several times, before he learned to avoid those that 

 were permanent. 



SHREWSBURY ; a market town and borough 

 of England, in Shropshire, and the chief town in 

 the county, is situated on the Severn, 153 miles 

 N. W. from London, and forty west from Litch- 

 field. There is a very fine public walk, called the 

 Quarry, along the banks of the Severn. The 

 streets are, some of them, steep and narrow, and 

 indifferently paved. The public buildings deserve 

 attention, both for their architecture and antiquity. 

 The ruins of the castle consist of two round towers 

 and a curtain, the work of Edward I. ; the walls 

 of the inner court ; and the great arch of the in- 

 terior gateway. There are six churches, a Roman 

 Catholic chapel, and meeting-houses for Presby- 

 terians, Unitarians, Baptists, Methodists and Qua- 

 kers. The charitable institutions of Shrewsbury 

 are the infirmary, the house of industry, an hos- 

 pital, &c. In the suburb called the abbey Foregate 

 are the remains of the abbey dedicated to St Peter, 

 at one time a great resort of people from all parts 

 of the kingdom, to the shrine of St Winefrid. 

 Besides the abbey, Shrewsbury had formerly three 

 convents and five chapels. Shrewsbury is a place 

 of considerable trade. Flannels used to be the 

 staple articles, and a coarse kind of woollen cloth, 

 made in Montgomeryshire, called Welsh webs. 

 Some manufactures are also carried on in the town, 

 viz. of linen yarn, porter, &c. It is famous for its 

 excellent bran, which is sent to various parts of 

 the kingdom. It sends two members to parlia- 

 ment. Its origin is referred to the fifth century, 

 when the Britons are thought to have established 

 themselves here. It was often visited by the Eng- 

 lish monarchs, and became the scene of many mili- 

 tary events. About two miles from the town was 

 fought the battle of Shrewsbury, in which Henry 

 V., then prince of Wales, first distinguished him- 

 self in the field, and Hotspur was slain. At the 

 entrance of the town is a column of freestone, to 

 commemorate the military achievements of lord 

 Hill. Population in 1841, 18,285. 



SHRIMP (crangon) ; a small, crustaceous animal, 

 allied to the lobster and craw-fish, which frequents 

 shallow waters along the sea-coast. In shape, it 

 resembles these animals, but it is more elongated 

 in proportion, and is destitute of the large anterior 

 claws ; and it is distinguished from the prawn by 

 the absence of the long, anterior, serrated spine. 

 The term is sometimes, but improperly, applied to 

 the species of gammarus, which are much more 

 abundant along the American coasts ; but these are 

 readily distinguished by the compressed form of their 

 bodies. The shrimp has ten feet; the tail is as 

 long as the body, and terminated at the extremity 

 with scale-like appendages, which unfold somewhat 

 in the manner of a fan. During life, the body is 

 semi-transparent, and so much resembles sea-water 

 that the animal is distinguished with difficulty. Its 

 ordinary motion consists of leaps. It is abundant 

 in sandy places, and furnishes nutriment to great 

 numbers of fishes, aquatic birds, &c. In England, 

 it is in great request for the table, and, in the sum- 

 mer season, is carried in vast quantities to the prin- 

 cipal towns, even at a considerable distance in the 

 interior. 



SHROPSHIRE, OR COUNTY OF SALOP, 

 an inland county of England, extending in length 

 about forty miles from North to South, and thirty- 



