84 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



which probably then consists mainly of terrestrial insects, 

 at a considerable distance from the water. That it cannot 

 long exist without its favourite element is, however, evident 

 from a statement quoted by the Rev. H. A. Macpherson, that in 

 the Lake district during the droughts of 1859 and 1863 these 

 animals suffered severely. 



Although the Water-Shrew was not definitely recorded by 

 naturalists as a native of Caithness till the year 1872, yet there 

 seems a strong probability that it was long known to the in- 

 habitants of that county under the somewhat remarkable name 

 of Lavellan. What was really the animal thus designated was 

 long a disputed point, although Pennant inclined to the 

 opinion that it was the one under consideration, his view being 

 confirmed by Messrs. Harvie-Brown and Buckley. Other 

 writers have, however, assigned the name to a Lizard. That 

 the Water-Shrew does inhabit Caithness was proved during a 

 flood in the autumn of 1872, when several were seen carried 

 down the river near Wick on bundles of corn and hay. 



THE CARNIVORES.-ORDER CARNIVORA. 



Formerly included in the same order as the Insectivores, the 

 Carnivora form a very well-defined natural group, which, so 

 far as existing forms are concerned, may be distinguished from 

 the preceding Order by the following characters. In the case 

 of the more typical representatives of the Order, a pair of 

 cheek-teeth is specially modified to act one against the other 

 with a scissor-like action, at least the anterior outer portion of 

 both the upper and lower tooth being converted into a cutting 

 blade ; this blade in some cases, as in the Cats, forming the 

 whole of the tooth, while in others, as among the Bears, it 

 constitutes but a small moiety thereof. On the other hand, in 

 those members of the Order such as the Seals and Walruses, 

 Which do not possess these specially modified and so-called 



