722 CLASS XVII. 



The insectivorous mammals are almost all small, and often pre- 

 sent in their form much resemblance to the rodents. Many live 

 under ground. All have a clavicle. In some the number of ribs 

 is unusually large. The deciduous teeth of the moles and shrews 

 are (OwEN Odont. p. 423) developed and disappear before birth. 



Family XXXVIII. Talpina. Body hairy. Feet short, fore 

 feet fossorial, with claws large. Ears none. Eyes very small or 



indistinct. 



/> 

 Chrysochloris LACEP. Incisor teeth ^, the middle inferior 



J 7 _7 6-6 . , 

 small, narrow, true canines none, molars = = , or ~ ~ , with a 



vacant space between them, false molars ~ ~ , small, the true 



with crown transverse, triangular in the upper, broader externally, 

 in the lower compressed, linear, divided by a transverse groove. 

 Eyes covered by skin. Nose naked, coriaceous, produced. Fore 

 feet tetradactylous, with fourth toe very small, claw of third toe 

 strong, broad, falciform ; hind feet pentadactylous. Tail none. (The 

 development of the teeth is unknown.) 



Sp. Ch'rysocldoi'is capensis DESMAR., Talpa asiatica L., Sorex auratus Cuv., 

 SCHREB. Sdugth. Tab. 157, VOSMAER Beschrijving van den groenglanziyen 

 mol, &c., Amsterdam, 1787, 4to (with col. fig.), GUERIN Iconoyr., Mammif. 

 PI. XT. fig. 3 ; brown, the hair with a green and purple reflection, of the 

 size of the mole. This species lives at the Cape of Good Hope, and not in 

 Siberia, as stated by LINNAEUS on the assertion of SEBA. This genus 

 reminds us of Spalax amongst the glires. Some other species also have 

 been discovered in later times, all South African, as Chrysockloris dbtu- 

 siroslris PETERS, from Mosambique. The skeleton has 19 (in one species 

 even 20) pairs of ribs. The first rib is thick and broad ; the clavicle 

 is long and thin. (In the distinction of the teeth we have, on the authority 

 of PETERS, followed the view of BLAINVILLE ; as also, in the number 

 of toes of the fore feet, MECKEL JBeitr. I. 2, p. 99, and PETERS.) 



/- 



Condylura ILLIG., Rhinaster WAGLER, WAGN. Incisors -? , 



two upper middle broad, triangular, rounded in front, lower pro- 



7-7 . 3-3 



cumbent, true canines none, molars ^ Q ? spurious = =, conical, 



o o O O 



distant. Muzzle produced into a slender proboscis, furnished at 

 the apex with caruncles arranged radiately. Eyes very small. 

 Feet pentadactylous. Tail moderate, thinly haired. 





