G6 



SoniciD.lv.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-SoiiRID.K. 



manner to thrust the food into his mouth, doubling it 

 BO as to force it directly bacliwards." 



THE MUSK RAT {M^i/t/ale moschata). — Tliia rather 

 iigly-lookiiig animal has few characters in common 

 with the moles, unless we make exception in favour of 

 tlie form of the body, the shortness of the limbs, and 

 some other non-essential features. It possesses a 

 long snout or proboscis which is very mobile, and 

 usually more or less curved downwards. The eyes, 

 though small, are comparatively distinct, while the 

 short ears scarcely project beyond the fur. The 

 arrangement of the teeth is somewhat peculiar, there 

 being six incisors, four of which, that is, two above and 

 two below, are very largely developed, and look lil;e 

 canines; of these, however, there are none. There are 

 no less than thirty-eight grinders, twenty in the upper 

 and eighteen in the lower jaw. Tlie feet are pentadacty- 

 lous, the digits being severally cotniected together by a 

 membrane to facilitate locomotion in the water. The 

 tail is about one-fourth shorter than the body, and 

 compressed from side to side throughout, especially at 

 the tip ; it is thinly haired, but very scaly, being also 

 jirovided with numerous glandular follicles, arranged 

 in double series along the under surface. These organs 

 secrete a fatty matter or kind of pomatum giving out a 

 peculiar musky odour. The fur presents a dusky- 

 brown colour. The musk rat is very common in the 

 rivers and lakes of southern Russia, and more particu- 

 larly on the banks of the Volga. According to Mr. 

 Ogilby, " it does not appear to have been seen on dry 

 land, and, indeed, it is broadly asserted that it never 

 goes there, but wanders from lake to lake in fortuitous 

 floods only. It is often seen swimming or walking 

 under the water, and coming for air to the surface, 

 where, in clear weather, it is apt to sport. Stagnant 

 waters, shut in by high banks, are its favourite locali- 

 ties, and in such places it makes burrows some twenty 

 feet in length. Its principal food is alleged to consist 

 of fish, leeches, and the larviE of water insects ; but 

 fragments of roots have been found in its stomach. Its 

 pace is slow ; but it does not seem to be torpid in 

 winter, at which season it is often taken in nets. The 

 holes which it makes in clifls and banks have the 

 entrance far beneath the lowest level of the water, and 

 the animal works upwards, never, however, nearing 

 the surface more than sufliciently high to secure itself 

 from the farthest rise of the river. Fish, as we have 

 seen, form part of its food ; but the quadruped in its 

 turn falls a victim to the ]iikes and siluri, whose flesh 

 becomes so impregnated with the flavour of musk in 

 consequence, as not to be eatable." Formerly a very 

 considerable trade was carried on at Orenberg for the 

 sale of these animals' skins and tails, which, from their 

 extraordinary abundance, onlj' realized a sale at the 

 rate of twenty copecs per hundred — a sum equivalent 

 to eightpence-three farthings, of English mone}'. 



THE ELEPHANT MOUSE {Macroscclides iypicus). 

 — This is perhaps the best known of the seven or eight 

 species which constitute the members of the genus. 

 Its name almost suggests a combination of the sublime 

 nud the ridiculous, for the only feature by whieli this 

 tiny creature in any measure resembles the huge 

 pachyderm, lies in the circumstance of its possessing 



an elongated proboscis-like snout, at the extremity of 

 which there are two oblique perforations representing 

 the nostrils. The base of the snout supports numerous 

 long stiff hairs or whiskers. In regard to the teeth, 

 there are ten incisors, six above and four below, no 

 true canines, and thirtj'-two molars, that is, fourteen in 

 tlie upper and eighteen in the lower jaw. The ears 

 are large and thinlj' haired. The feet are pentadacty- 

 lous and plantigrade, the digits corresponding to the 

 thumbs in the fore-feet, and the great toes in the hind- 

 feet being very short ; the claws are thin and strongly 

 incurved. Tlie fur lias a tawny-brown colour, gradu- 

 ally becoming whitish on the limbs. The length of 

 the body is rather less than five inches, the tail being 

 likewise three and a quarter inches long, a little 

 swollen immediately beyond the root, and provided, in 

 the males at least, with minute glandular follicles. 

 Tliis and some other species of so-called elephant mice 

 live in south Africa. Their habits are diurnal, and 

 they are frequently seen hunting for their prey amongst 

 the roots of brushwood and bushes. On being dis- 

 covered, however, their timidity soon shows itself, and 

 they scamper off in hot haste ; retreating cither into 

 their natural burrows, or beneath stones and similar 

 places of security. 



THE SOLENODON [Solenodon jiarado.ais). — The 

 distinguished naturalist Brandt has employed this title 

 to designate a remarkable animal forming a sort of 

 gigantic shrew. It is an uihabitant of the island of St. 

 Domingo, is covered with coarse fur, and possesses 

 very long whiskers. Each jaw is armed with six 

 incisor teeth, the two central ones of the upper series 

 being very large and triangular, while the pair next 

 outside the central ones of the lower jaw are elon- 

 gated, conical, and hollowed out at the inner surfaco 

 by a deep groove. These two pair assume the aspect 

 of very powerful canines, but the latter have in reality 

 no true representatives. The molars are twenty-eight 

 in number, that is, seven on either side of each jaw. 

 This singular creature is larger than our common 

 brown rat, being upwards of twenty inches in length, 

 including the naked or scaly tail, which measures nine 

 inches. The eyes are small, the nose slightly pro- 

 boscidiform, the ears also being only moderately 

 developed. The sides of the head and neck, as well as 

 the abdomen and feet, exhibit a faint yellow-browr 

 colour, with an occasional mixture of a greyish tint. 



THE COMMON SHREW {Sorcx aranciis').—'PlMe 6, 

 fig. 21. The genus Sorex comprehends an extremely 

 numerous series of individuals, and it has therefore 

 been variously subdivided by dilferent naturalists. 

 Without, however, expressing any oju'nion as to the 

 propriety of their arrangements, our object is to impart 

 a definite and accurate knowledge of the more impor- 

 tant forms, under whatever names they may be clearly 

 recognized. Even the species under consideration has 

 caused much controversy, but it is now very generally 

 understood that the common shrew-mouse of the 

 British isles is correctly indicated by the above com- 

 bined generic and specific title. Among the character- 

 istics which distinguish this form we may especially 

 refer to the teeth, of which there are i)robably ten 

 incisors, though on this point there seems to ba 



