70 MAMMALIA. 



M. Savi has found a Mole in the Apennines that is perfectly blind, 

 although otherwise similar to the common one; he calls it Talpa 

 cceca. 



CONDYLURA, IlUg. 



The Condylures seem to combine the two kinds of dentition of the insec- 

 tivora. In the upper jaw are two large triangular incisors, two extremely 

 small and slender ones, and on each side a strong canine. In the lower 

 one are four incisors slanting forwards, and a pointed but small canine. 

 The superior false molars are triangular, and separated, the inferior trench- 

 ant and denticulated. 



In their feet and the whole of their exterior they resemble the Mole, 

 but their tail is longer, and what more particularly distinguishes them from 

 the former is, that their nostrils are surrounded with little moveable carti- 

 laginous points, which, when they separate, radiate like a kind of star. 



One species particularly is found in North America — Sorex cris- 

 tatus, L*. (The Radiated Mole). Similar to the Mole of Europe, 

 the nose excepted, but havhig a tail more than double the length of 

 that of the latter. 



SCALOFS, CuV. 



The Scalops have the teeth very similar to those of the Desmans, except 

 that the small or false molars are less numerous ; the muzzle is simply 

 pointed, like that of the Shrews; their hands are widened, armed with 

 strong nails fitted to excavate the earth, and exactly similar to those of 

 Moles : in fact, their mode of life is the same ; their eyes are equally as 

 small, and their ears quite as much hidden. The only species known is the 

 S. aquaticus; Sorex aquaticus, L. ; Schreb. CLVIII. (The Ca- 

 nadian Scalop). It appears to inhabit a great part of North America, 

 along rivers, &c. Its external resemblance to the common Mole of 

 Europe is so great, that it is easy to mistake the one for the other. 



* This is the Condylura of Illiger, hut the characters he indicates, taken from 

 the figure of La Faille, copied Buff. Supp. VL xxxvi, 1, and on which he composed 

 the name of the genus, are false. M. Desmarets was the first who correctly described 

 the teeth of this animal. 



Dr. Harlan describes a species, Cond. macroura, which has but very short points 

 about the nostrils, and a scaly compressed tail. He associates with it, as a third spe- 

 cies, the Talf. longicaudata, Penn. Hist. No. 443, which he appears however not to 

 have seen. 



of mole hills. Moss forms the principal lining of the nest. One of the most curious 

 phenomena presented by the Mole at this period is the process of skinning a worm. 

 The integument of the victim is stripped from end to end, and then the contents are 

 squeezed out by pressure on the part of the mole. The subterranean burrows formed 

 by these animals are mostly connected by avenues with the chamber where the nest 

 is made; and in going to or from this chamber, the mole passes through a series of 

 these avenues, where, it is supposed, that several means, known only to the contriver, 

 are employed for catching worms, beetles, grubs, &c. The inconvenience to which 

 Cuvier alludes, as being produced chiefly in cultivated places, consists, for the most 

 part, in the loosening of the earth round the roots of plants, which always attends 

 their operations in searching for food. — Eng. Ed. 



