80 



MAMMALIA. 



The Solenodon {Solenodon, Brandt) — 

 Resembles a gigantic Slirew, but with coarse fur, and proportionally much longer whiskers : the tail is 

 long, naked, and scaly, and the claws considerably more developed. There are six incisors to each 

 jaw, the first pair above, and the second pair below, very large, and resembling canines ; two superior 

 false molars, and three inferior, on each side ; then five true molars above, and four below, subquad- 

 rate, and broad or transverse. 

 Tlie species, S. paradoxus, Brandt, inhabits Ha>i:i, and is larger than the Brown Rat.) 



The Desmans {Mygale*, Cuv.) — 

 Differ from the Shrews by having [like the Solenodon] two very small teeth placed between the two 

 large inferior incisors, and in their upper incisors, which are flattened and triangular. Behind these 

 incisors are six or seven small teeth, and four bristled molars. Their muzzle is elongated into a small, 

 very flexible proboscis, which is constantly in motion. Their long tail, scaly and flattened at the sides, 

 and their feet with five toes all connected by membrane, proclaim them to be aquatic animals. Their 

 eyes are very small, [the fur long, straight, and divergent,] and they have no external ears. 



The Russian Desman (Sorex moschatus, Lin).^Nearly equal in size to the common Urchin ; blackish above, 

 inclining to white beneath ; the tail one fourth shorter than the body. It is very common along the rivers and lakes 

 of Southern Russia, where it feeds on worms, the larvae of insects, and particularly on Leeches, which it easily with- 

 draws from the mud by means of its flexible proboscis. Its burrow, excavated in a bank, commences under water, 

 and ascends to above the level of the highest floods. This animal never comes voluntarily on shore, but is taken 

 very often in the nets of the fishermen. Its musky odour arises from a kind of pomatum secreted in small follicles 

 under the tail, and is even conmiunicated to the flesh of Pike which devour the Desman. 



There is found in the streamlets of the Pyrenees a smaller species of this genus, which has the tail longer than 

 its body (Myg. pyrenaica, H.) [This constitutes the division Mygalina of Isidore Geoffroy. 



The rest of the Insectivora have amazingly powerful fore-feet, designed for tearing open the ground, 

 rather than for burrowing by merely scratching away the mould, as in the preceding genera.] 



The Chrysochlores {Chrysocloris, Lacepede), — 

 Like the preceding genus, possess two incisors above and four below ; but their grinders are elevated, 

 distinct, and nearly all in the form of triangular prisms : the muzzle is short, broad, and recurved ; and 

 their fore-feet have only three nails, of which the exterior is veiy large, much arcuated, and pointed, 

 forming a powerful instrument for digging and burrowing into the soil ; the others successively decrease 

 in size. Their hind limbs have five toes of the ordinary dimensions. They are subterraneous animals, 

 whose mode of life is similar to that of the Moles. To enable them to dig the better, their fore-arm 

 is supported by a third bone placed under the cubitus. 



The Cape Chi-ysochlore {Talpa asiatica, Lin. [now better known as C. capensis, Desm.)]. — Rather smaller than 

 our Moles, without apparent tail. It is the only known quadruped which presents any appearance of those splendid 

 metallic reflections which adorn so many birds, fishes, and insects. Its fur is of a green, changing to copper or 

 bronze : the ears have no conch, and the eyes are not perceptible.f It inhabits Africa, and not Siberia, as falsely 

 reported. [There are three others, C. Hotientota, Damarensis, and villosa, all from the same general locality.] 



The Moles {Talpa, Lin.) — 

 Are well known for their subterraneous life, and for their structure eminently qualified in adaptation to 

 it. A very short arm, attached to a large shoulder-blade, supported by a stout clavicle, and provided 

 with enormous muscles, sustains an extremely large hand, the palm of which is always directed either 

 outwards or backwards : the lower edge of this hand is trenchant, and the fingers scarcely perceptible, 

 but the nails which terminate them are long, flat, strong, and sharp. Such is the instnnnent which 

 the Mole employs to tear open the ground, and throw back the mould behind it. Its sternum possesses, 

 in common with that of Birds and Bats, a ridge which allows the pectoral muscles to attain the mag- 

 nitude requisite for the performance of their functions. To pierce and raise up the ground, it makes 



* This name being preoctupic-d by a geims of Spiders, Fischer has 

 altered it to Myogalftt. — Ed. 



t The lied Mole of America, Sebal. pi. xxxii. fig. 1, (Talpa rubra, 

 Lin.), is most probably a Cape Chrysochlore, figured from a dried spe- 

 cimen, for then the fur appears purple. [It is more likely the Scaliips 



ccinadetisis.] But the Tucan of Fernandez, regarded as one of its 

 synonymes, appears rather, to judge from its two long teeth to each 

 jaw, and vegetable regimen, to be some subterraneous rodent, perhaps 

 a Diplostomn. 



