FAMILY I NSECTIVORA. INSECT-EATERS. 



15 



ORDER III. SAECOPHAGA. 



PREFERS. 



THIS order is characterised by its flesh-eating propensity ; hence its desig- 

 nation from two Greek words, aapKoe, " flesh," and <j>ayw, " I eat." 



Family 1. INSECT-EATERS; Insectiwra. 

 ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



Genera. 



PLATE 4. 



Species. 



Kriimceus - - - - Europasus - 

 Sore* ----- Araneus 

 Talpa ----- Europaea 



Common Name. 



Common Hedgehog. 

 Common Shrew. 

 Common Mole. 



Other Genera of this Family : Centetes, Mygale, Scalops. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. ERINACEUS. Body covered above with spines instead of hairs, and 

 capable of being bent up on itself to form a prickly ball ; tail short, and 

 feet plantigrade, five-toed ; the two middle upper incisives separate from 

 each other, longer than the others, and conical ; nose slightly projecting. 



2. SOREX (Gr. vpa, a Rat or Mouse). Front teeth in each jaw two, 

 in the upper bicuspid, in the lower very long, horizontal, and denticulated 

 above ; on each side, in the upper jaw, five or four false molar, the first 

 and last larger than the intermediate, in the lower jaw two false molars ; 

 true molar teeth with pointed crowns, three on a side, in each jaw ; muzzle 

 long and conical ; eyes very small ; ears small, rounded, and not always 

 apparent; body covered with soft fur, and on each flank a row of odori- 

 ferous glands; tail varying in length, and but rarely equalling that of the 

 body ; feet plantigrade, toes distinct, five on each foot. 



3. TALPA (Gr. rv<j>\oe, blind). Incisive teeth of nearly equal size, in the 

 upper jaw six, and in the lower eight ; cuspid teeth two-fanged, the upper 

 very long, curved, pointed, and sharp on their hinder edge, the lower not 

 elevated above the molar teeth; in the upper jaw on each side seven 

 molar teeth, of which the first three small, and the fourth much larger, are 

 all single-pointed, and the other three have cutting edges with two points 

 on their crowns ; and in the lower jaw on each side six, of which the front 

 three are single and the hind three double-pointed ; muzzle lengthened, 

 and the snout forming a sort of proboscis truncated ; eyes very small ; no 

 auricles ; body full, roundish ; tail short and scaly ; limbs short, the ante- 

 rior very strong and bulky, and furnished with a pair of broadly-expanded 

 feet, having their soles facing outwards with a sharp inner or under edge, 

 five toes webbed to the roots of the claws, which are long, wide, rounded, 

 and sharp pointed; posterior limbs very slender, feet plantigrade, with 

 five toes armed with slender, sharp, slight, curved claws ; fur soft, thick, 

 and silky. 



4. CENTETES (Gr. KCVTW, to prick). Body covered with bristles and 

 spines ; tail short or wanting entirely ; cuspidate teeth two in each jaw 

 on either side ; the incisores between and before them ; molares five on 

 each side in both jaws, having their crowns cuspidated, of a triangular 

 shape ; the base of which is behind. 



5. MYGALE (Gr. fivoyaXi), a Shrew). Incisive teeth in the upper 

 jaw two, sharp and triangular, in the lower four, long, narrow, and 

 parallel, with truncated crowns, the middle two smaller than the outer ; 

 cuspid none ; molar, in the upper jaw seven, in the lower four false on each 

 side ; in the upper three true pointed, in the lower six of the same on each 

 side ; the muzzle sharp, with a projecting, flattened, moveable nose, having 

 nostrils at its tip ; eyes small ; auricles deficient ; body clothed with long 

 hair ; tail compressed ; feet five-toed, webbed, plantigrade ; the soles bare ; 

 hind feet hairy on their outer edge ; claws falcular. 



6. SCALOPS (Gr. wcaXXw, / dig). Incisive teeth in each jaw two, 

 ])erpendicular and cuneiform, the lower smallest ; no true cuspid teeth ; 

 in upper jaw, on either side, six false molar, of which the anterior four 

 are cylindrical, the last two lance-shaped, with their points inclining 



backwards ; three molar with many-pointed crowns : in lower jaw, on each 

 side, from four to seven false molar, conical, but obtuse, and three molar 

 with many-pointed crowns ; muzzle lengthy, and terminating in a cartila- 

 ginous button ; eyes small ; auricles deficient ; body thick, cylindrical, 

 without distinct neck ; tail short ; legs short ; feet five-toed, the fore feet 

 very wide and strong, the toes connected to the last joint, their claws 

 large, semilanceolate, with narrow and rather obtuse points ; claws of 

 hind toes much shorter, compressed, and sharp. 



INSECTIVORA. DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 



ERINACEUS : the Hedgehog. The common Hedgehog (E. Europasus), 

 Plate 4, has the ears short, lives in hedges, and is very common. In 

 the winter it burrows and becomes torpid ; but in spring leaves its hole 

 in search of insects, which are its ordinary food, and occasionally fruits 

 also. It is a shy and timid little animal, and when disturbed rarely 

 attempts to escape, but rolls itself up into a prickly ball, and from this 

 form will not disengage itself, but rather closes more firmly the more it be 

 irritated, except when thrown into water, on which it speedily unrolls. It 

 is easily domesticated, and is very useful indoors to destroy Beetles and 

 other troublesome insects. A curious fact has been observed by Pallas, 

 that the Hedgehog feeds without injury upon the Cantharides, a single one 

 of which produces excruciating torments in the Dog and Cat. Native of 

 Europe. 



The Long-eared Hedgehog (E. Auritus) is found from the north of the 

 Caspian Sea as far as Egypt. 



There are about eighteen or nineteen species of Shrews. In form and 

 habits they have a general resemblance to the small kinds of Mice, but are 

 less vivacious. They are of small size, and among them are found the 

 smallest Mammalia, such as the S. Etruscus, Pulchellus, Personatus, and 

 Religiosus, which scarcely exceed the smallest Humming-bird in bulk. 



The teeth of this genus are, as remarked by Isidore Geoffrey, extremely 

 interesting, as being intermediate between those of the true carnivorous and 

 those of the rodent animals, and linking them together. 



The limbs of this genus are not so short as they seem to be, arising 

 from their feet being of the plantigrade kind, that is, the fore feet resting 

 on the ground as far as the wrist, and the hind so far as the heel. The 

 toes are all distinct and have no indication of web, not even in those species 

 which are aquatic, some of which have them, however, fringed with strong 

 hairs, which serve the same purpose as the loose fringes on the toes of the 

 Grebes and Divers ; the inner and outer toe of each foot is deeply cleft 

 from the others, by which they are enabled to be far spread and the 

 breadth of the paw much increased, an analogy to which has been observed 

 by Geotfroy in some of the Marsupial animals ; the claws are short, curved, 

 compressed, and sharp. The tail is always shorter than the body, some- 

 times scaly, and sometimes covered with fur. Like the Bats they possess 

 the remarkable power of rendering themselves deaf at will, and thus pre- 

 serving their auditory organs from injury by sudden and violent noise. 



The eyes are so extremely small, that Geoffrey St. Hilaire has designated 

 them as " veritablement un organe tomb's en atrophie," a peculiarity which 

 belongs to all the subterraneous carnivorous animals. The Shrews are 

 remarkable for their strong musky odour, which arises from a series of 

 odoriferous glands situated along the flanks, and nearer the fore than the 

 hind limbs. 



Some of the Shrews are found in both the Old and New World, but 

 others are not, and whilst some prefer dry soils, others are found only in 

 wet or marshy districts. Generally they live in holes, but sometimes make 

 their way into granaries or cellars, where their presence is soon known by 

 their musky odour. 



The Fetid or Common Shrew (S. Araneus), Plate 4, measures, head 

 and body, from two to two and a half inches in length ; its tail is an inch 

 and a half, which is thick, blunt at the extremity, covered with short, close, 

 stifF, dusky hair, but not fringed on its under surface ; colours variable ; 

 ears small, having within two folds or lobes, one beneath the other, and 

 edged with hair ; feet small, the hinder not fringed. It is common upon 



