cs 



RoKicin.r:.- 



-MAiniALIA.- 



-SoKicir>.T;. 



black, and also of a yellow tinije towards the region of 

 the throat. Tlie snout is compressed, the eyes and 

 ears are small, tlie latter being bordered by a fringe of 

 whitisli-coloured hairs. The tcetli exliibit a rusty or 

 chestnut liue at their tips — a peculiarity, liowever, not 

 confined to any particular species. Like the water 

 shrew, its habits are essentially aquatic. 



THE INDIAN SHREW {Surex iiidkus). — Though in 

 general ajipearance this species closely rcscrables the 

 common shrew, the size at once distinguishes it, being 

 in this respect equal to our common brown rat. In 

 virtue of a very strong musky odour, it imparts a pecu- 

 liarly nauseous smell to every thing witli which it 

 may happen to come in contact. Some of the stories 

 told of its powers of oommuuicating odoriferous pro- 

 jierties to particular objects, appear to be rather 

 exaggerated. For examjile, we are informed that wine 

 in a properly-closed bottle will become impregnated 

 with a musky flavour, merely by the circumstance of 

 this anim.al's passing over the exterior surface of the 

 glass ! Surely tliis savours a little of the imaginative. 

 At all events, the little boast enjoys an unenviable 

 credit on this score. It is better known by the name 

 of the Indian musk rat. 



THE AMERICAN MARSH SHREW {Sorcx J^alustris). 

 — This species is principally marked by the possession 

 <if an unusually long tail, combined with very short 

 hairy cars which lie entirely concealed beneath the 

 fur. The hairy covering exbiliits a hoary black colour, 

 except on the bell^', where it is lighter and of an ash- 

 grey tint, the texture throughout being dense, soft, and 

 lustrous. The teeth are thirty in number; that is, 

 four incisors and twenty-six molars. Sir John Itich- 

 ardson was the lirst to describe this shrew, and be 

 obtained several specimens in British America during 

 his explorations with the expedition under Sir John 

 Franklin. With regard to its habits, he says that it 

 " lives in the summer on similar food with the water 

 shrew, but," he adds, "I am at a loss to imagine bow it 

 procures a subsistence during the six months of the 

 year in which the countries it inhabits are covered 

 with snow. It frequents the borders of lakes, and 

 Ilearne tells us that it often takes up its .abode in beaver 

 houses." The length of the body, not including the 

 tail, is precisely three and a half inches. 



FORSTER'S SHREW [Surcx Forstcri).—T\\Q shrew 

 thus named appears to have been first noticed by For- 

 ster, and described by him in the sixty-second volume 

 of the Philosophical Transactions. It resembles the 

 oared shrew in respect of the quadrangular form of t)ie 

 tail, and in some other minor particulars. The length 

 of the body is aliout two and a quarter inclies. It is 

 armed with thirty-two teeth, four being incisors and 

 the remainder true and false molars. Tlie snout is 

 mucli attenuated ; the whiskers are conspicuous, and 

 the ears completely enveloped b}' the fur. The author 

 of the "Fauna Boreali Auierioani," speaks of it as fol- 

 lows : — " This little animal is common throughout the 

 whole of the fur countries to the sixty-seventh degree 

 of latitude, and its minute foot-prints are seen every- 

 where in the winter when the snow is sufliciently fine 

 to retain the impression. I have often traced its 

 pathway to a stalk of grass by which it appears to 



descend from the suiface of the sn(jw ; but a search 

 for its habitation liy removing the snow was invariably 

 fruitless. I was unable to procure a recent specimen." 

 And further on he says — "It is the smallest quadruped 

 the Indians are acquainted with, and they preserve 

 skins of it in their conjuring bags. The power of 

 generating lieat must be very great in this diminutive 

 creature, to preserve its tender limbs from freezing 

 when the temperature sinks forty or fifty degrees below 

 zero." 



SAVI'S SHREW {Sorer, ctrusciis). — To the general 

 observer of natiu'c, the distinctions established between 

 the numerous species of shrew may not at first sight 

 appear very satisfactory, and it is partly on this account 

 that wo find it necessary to confine our attention to the 

 more striking or better known forms. There is a little 

 North American form, emphatically called the small 

 shrew-mouse — the Sorcx jxirriis of Sa}' and Kichard- 

 son— which is only two inches and three-quarters in 

 length; but this specific title might perhaps with greater 

 propriety lie applied to the species un<ler consideration ; 

 for Savi's shrew is not only believed to be the smallest 

 in existence, but it is probably the tiniest of all 

 living quadrupeds, excepting, of course, those which 

 have not attained their adult or fully developed state. 

 The liody of Say's small shrew measures two inches 

 and three-quarters, without reckoning the tail ; whereas 

 the little Sorex ctruscus scarcely exceeds two inches 

 and a half, two entire fifths of which measurement 

 belong to the caudal appendage. It is an iuh.abitant 

 of Italy and the northern coasts of Africa. Notwith- 

 standing what we have here advanced, it will doubtless 

 occur to our readers that some of the bats scarcely 

 exceed this animal in length ; although, if placed side 

 liy side with the pipistrelle, this bat would appear iu 

 all likelihood eonqiaratively bulky. 



THE BULATJ {Gyinnura Rajjlesii). — The members 

 of this and the two following genera offer such pecu- 

 liarities as scarcely to entitle «s to classify them with 

 the Sorieidie, propeily so called ; and on the one hand, 

 they neither sufliciently agree in their respective char- 

 acters, so as to enable our associating them together 

 under a separate family title, nor, on the other, are 

 they clearly referable to the TiqiaUula ; yet, as they 

 exhibit characters of a very mixed kirjd, we cannot at 

 present, perhaps, do better than briefly record them 

 in the order here adopted. The head of the bulau is 

 much elongated and compressed from side to side, the 

 muzzle being proboscidiform, obtuse at the tip, and 

 continued forward a considerable distance beyond the 

 lower jaw. The eyes are rather small, and the ears 

 rounded, conspicuous, and naked. The body is stoutish 

 posteriorly, and terminates in a long, smootli, scaly 

 tail which supports a few thinly scattered hairs. 

 The mass of the fur is soft ; but from beneath this 

 downy covering there projects a multitude of long 

 harsh, bristle-like hairs, wdiich are particularly numer- 

 ous along the back. The limbs are well developed, 

 and terminate in plantigrade pentadactylous feet, having 

 the three middle toes longer than the other digits. 

 The jaws are armed with forty-four teeth, which Pro- 

 fessor Owen has divided into twelve iucisives, four 

 canines, sixteen false, and twelve true molars. They 



