332 INSECTIVORES. 



by webs, while the soles of the feet are furnished with large disc-like pads. The 

 web-footed shrew has a tail of 4 inches in length, while the length of the head and 

 body is but just over 3J inches. The fur, which is extremely dense and soft and 

 evidently adapted to withstand the icy cold of the Tibetan rivers, is of a rich dark 

 brown colour above, with the longer hairs of a glistening white, while the chin and 

 throat are whitish, and the belly light brown. 



It does not appear that this shrew has ever been seen by Europeans disporting 

 in the waters of its native streams. From its structure we may, however, con- 

 fidently infer that it is more thoroughly aquatic than any other member of the 

 family ; and it has been suggested by Milne-Edwards, its original describer, that 

 the disc-like pads on the soles of the feet act as suckers, and thus enable the 

 animal to cling to the surfaces of smooth pebbles or rocks during its sojourn 

 beneath the water. 



THE DESMANS AND MOLES. 

 Family TALPID^. 



The European desmans and the more widely-spread moles are the best known 

 representatives of two sections of a family which, while allied in many respects to 

 the shrews, possess characters of sufficient importance to justify its separation 



SKELETON OF MOLE. 



therefrom. In the first place, the skull in all members of the family Talpidce is 

 distinguished from that of the Soricidce by having a distinct zygomatic arch 

 connecting the upper jaw with the region of the ear ; this difference being distinctly 

 shown by a comparison of the figure of the skeleton of the mole given herewith 

 with that of the skeleton of the water-shrew on p. 324. Then, again, on the under- 

 surface of the hinder pa-rt of the skull, whereas the so-called bulla of the internal 

 ear is represented in the shrews merely by an open ring, in the desmans and moles 

 it has a complete bladder-like form. Further, the first incisor tooth of both jaws 

 in the members of the present family is of a normal type, and never assumes the 

 peculiar form which has been shown to be characteristic of all the shrews. 



Most of the members of the present family are of fossorial habits, although a 

 few are more or less completely aquatic, and others cursorial. All have long shrew- 

 like skulls, and small eyes and ears ; while in most cases the fore-limbs are placed 



