CARNARIA. 75 
and dentated at their base, the lower ones slanting and elongated at their 
base: five small teeth on each side follow the first, and two only the se- 
cond. There are_moreover in each jaw three bristled molars, and in the 
upper one, the last is a small tuberculous tooth. The animals live in holes, 
which they dig in the earth, and seldom leave it till evening; they live on 
worms and insects, One species only was for a long time known in 
France; the 
Sor. araneus, L.; Buff. VIII. x, 1. (The Common Shrew, or 
Shrew Mouse). Grey above; ash-coloured beneath; tail square, 
and not so long as the body by one-third; teeth white; ears naked 
and exposed; common in fields, meadows, &c. This little animal 
has been accused of producing a disease in horses by its bite; the 
imputation however is false, and arises, perhaps, from the fact, that 
though cats kill the Shrew, they will not eat it on account of its 
odour. 
Daubenton has described the 
Sor. fodiens, Gm.; S. Daubentonii, Blumenb.; Buff. VIII. xi. 
(The Water Shrew). Rather larger sized than the common one; 
black above; white beneath; tail compressed at the end, and not 
so long as the body by one-fourth; the incisors red at the ends; the 
ear is surrounded with white, and to a great extent hidden in the hair, 
and can close itself almost hermetically when the animal dives, while 
the stiff bristles which fringe its feet give it a facility in swimming, 
in consequence of which it prefers the banks of rivulets. 
Several Shrews have been observed in Europe, which differ in some 
respects from the preceding ones; but as in this genus the age and 
season materially affect the colours of the fur, it is by no means cer- 
tain that they are all constant species* 
Other countries also have their own, the most remarkable of which 
is the S. myosorus, Pall., Act. Petrop. 1781, part II, pl. 4; Mus 
musquée de l Inde, Buff. Supp. VII. 71. (The Rat-tailed Shrew). 
In its form and colour it resembles our common Shrew, and also has 
its large naked ears; but the tail is round, furnished only with hairs, 
plainly scattered, and is almost as large as that of our long-tailed 
field-mouse. It gives out a strong musky scent, which impregnates 
every thing it touches. It is found throughout India, and part of 
Africa, and is one of the animals the ancient Egyptians were in the 
habit of embalming }. 
* The S. leucodon, Schreb. 159, D, does not appear to me to differ from the com- 
mon Shrew. I strongly suspect the S. tetragonurus and constrictus, Herm., Schreb. 
159, B and C, or Geoff. Ann. Mus. XVII. pl. 3, f. 3, and pl. 3, f. 1, and even the S. 
remifer, Geoff. Ann. Mus. XVII. pl. 2, f. 1, to be aged Water-Shrews; the remifer 
particularly, whose belly is sometimes white, sometimes black; the S. lineatus, Geoff. 
ib. 181, is an accidental variety of the tetragonurus arising from age. The Sorex 
minutus, Laxmann, Schreb. 161, B, is merely a mutilated specimen of the S. pig- 
meus, Pall, 
Such is not the case however with the S. etruscus, Savi, which is but half the size 
of our common species, is blackish, has naked ears, white muzzle and paws, round 
tail, &c. It is a true and distinct species. 
+ I consider the S. myosurus Pall. and Geoff. Ann. du Mus. XVII. pl. 3, f. 2; the 
S. capensis, Id. ib. pl. ii. f. 2; the S. indicus, Id. Mem. du Mus. I, pl. 15, f. 1, as old spe~ 
