CARNARIA. 75 



and dentated at their base, the lower ones slanting and elongated at their 

 base : five small teeth on each side follow the first, and two only the se- 

 cond. There are moreover in each jaw three bristled molars, and in the 

 upper one, the last is a small tuberculous tooth. The animals live in holes, 

 which they dig in the earth, and seldom leave it till evening ; they live on 

 worms and insects. One species only was for a long time known in 

 France; the 



Sor. araneus,h.; BuiF. VIII. x, 1. (The Common Shrew, or 

 Shrew Mouse). Grey above; ash-coloured beneath; tail square, 

 and not so long as the body by one-third ; teeth white ; ears naked 

 and exposed; common in fields, meadows, &c. This little animal 

 has been accused of producing a disease in horses by its bite ; the 

 imputation however is false, and arises, perhaps, from the fact, that 

 though cats kill the Shrew, they will not eat it on account of its 

 odour. 



Daubenton has described the 



Sor. fodiens, Gm. ; S. Dauhenlonii, Blumenb. ; Buff. VIII. xi. 

 (The Water Shrew). Rather larger sized than the common one; 

 black above ; white beneath ; tail compressed at the end, and not 

 so long as the body by one-fourth ; the incisors red at the ends ; the 

 ear is surrounded with white, and to a great extent hidden in the hair, 

 and can close itself almost hermetically when the animal dives, while 

 the stiff bristles which fringe its feet give it a facihty in swimming, 

 in consequence of which it prefers the banks of rivulets. 



Several Shrews have been observed in Europe, which differ in some 

 respects from the preceding ones; but as in this genus the age and 

 season materially affect the colours of the fur, it is by no means cer- 

 tain that they are all constant species* 



Other countries also have their own, the most remarkable of which 

 is the S. myosorus, Pall., Act. Petrop. 1781, part II, pi. 4; Mus 

 musquee de Vlnde, Buff. Supp. VII. 71. (The Rat-tailed Shrew). 

 In its form and colour it resembles our common Shrew, and also has 

 its large naked ears ; but the tail is round, furnished only with hairs, 

 plainly scattered, and is almost as large as that of our long-tailed 

 field-mouse. It gives out a strong musky scent, which impregnates 

 every thing it touches. It is found throughout India, and part of 

 Africa, and is one of the animals the ancient Egyptians were in the 

 habit of embalming f. 



* The S. leucodon, Schreb. 159, D, does not appear to me to differ from the com- 

 mon Shrew. I strongly suspect the S. tetragonurus and conslriclus, Herm., Schreb. 

 159, B and C, or Geoff. Ann. Mus. XVII. pi. 3, f. 3, and pi. 3, f. 1, and even the S. 

 rewz/er, Geoff. Ann. Mus. XVII. pi. 2, f. 1, to be aged Water-Shrews; the remifer 

 particularly, whose belly is sometimes white, sometimes black; the S. lineatus, Geoff, 

 ib. 181, is an accidental variety of the tetragonurus arising from age. The Sorex 

 minutus, Laxmann, Schreb. 161, B, is merely a mutilated specimen of the S. pig- 

 mcBus, Pall. 



Such is not the case however with the S. etruscus, Savi, which is but half the size 

 of our common species, is blackish, has naked ears, white muzzle and paws, round 

 tail, &c. It is a true and distinct species. 



t I consider the S. myosurtis Pall, and Geoff. Ann. du Mus. XVII. pi. 3, f. 2; the 

 S. capetisis, Id. ib. pi, ii. f. 2 ; the S. indicus, Id. Mem. du Mus. I, pi. 15, f. 1, as old spe- 



