NATURAL HISTORY. 251 



mouse is a venomous animal, and that its bite is so 

 dangerous to every kind of cattle, and particularly to 

 horses : the truth, however, is, that it is neither venom- 

 ous nor capable of biting ; for it cannot open its 

 mouth wide enough to seize the double thickness of 

 the skin. The distemper among horses, which the 

 vulgar attribute to the tooth of the shrew-mouse, is a 

 swelling which proceeds from an internal cause, and 

 has no connection with any bite, or rather scratch, that 

 this little animal may give. 



In wiuter especially, the shrew-mouse generally fixes 

 its residence in some hay-loft, stable, or barn, where 

 it feeds on grain, insects, and putrid flesh. It i& 

 likewise found in woods, and fields, where, living on 

 corn, it sometimes conceals itself under moss or leaves, 

 sometimes under the trunks of trees, sometimes in holes 

 abandoned by moles, and sometimes in holes of a smal- 

 ler size, which it forms for itself by digging with its 

 claws and snout. 



The shrew-mouse is said to produce as many at a 

 birth as the domestic mouse, though less frequently 

 It has a squeak much more piercing than the latter. 

 In point of nimbleness, however, it is far inferior ; and 

 as it both sees imperfectly, and runs slowly, it is easily 

 taken. 



The usual colour of these creatures is brown witk 

 a mixture of red. Others of them are ash-coloured : 

 and they all have a greater or less degree of whiteness 

 upon the belly : they are very common throughout 

 Europe ; but they do not seem to have obtained 

 footing in America. 



