98 MAMMALIA— MOUSE. 



his body. After a while a small shed was built for him in the corner of the 

 yard, and filled with straw ; but the animal would not quit its former situa- 

 tion until it was covered with a stone. He then took possession of the 

 shed, and every morning carried leaves from a distant part of the border, to 

 stop its mouth. His principal food was raw meat and mice. Of the latter, 

 he would eat six at a time, but never more ; and although these were 

 thrown to him dead, he bit them all in the neck before he began to eat any. 

 He would also eat snails with their shells; but would leave any thing for 

 milk, which he lapped exceedingly slow. To this, even if set six or eight 

 yards distant from his shed, he would almost always come out half an hour 

 before his usual time. If the person who usually fed him neglected to do 

 so, he would follow him along the yard ; and if the door was opeh he would 

 go into the house. If meat was put near the mouth of his shed in the day 

 time, he would sometimes pull it in and eat it. As the weather became 

 colder, he carried more leaves into his shed ; and sometimes he would not 

 come out for two or three days successively. About the end of November 

 he died ; from want of food, as was supposed, but most probably from the 

 severity of the weather." 



THE SHREW MOUSEi 



Is smaller than the domestic mouse: it has a strong smell, which is peculiar 

 to itself, and so offensive to cats, that, though they will cheerfully chase and 

 kill the shrew mouse, yet they will not eat its flesh, like that of the domes- 

 tic mouse. It is evidently this noisome odor, this aversion of the cat to it, 

 that gave rise to the notion, that the shrew mouse is a venomous animal, 

 and that its bite is so dangerous to cattle of all sorts, and particularly to 

 horses. The truth, however, is, that it is neither venomous nor capable 

 of biting; for it cannot open its mouth sufficiently wide to seize the double 

 thickness of the skin, which is absolutely necessary, in order to bite. The 

 distemper among horses, it is farther to be observed, which the vulgar attri- 

 bute to the tooth of the shrew mouse, is a swelling which proceeds from an 

 internal cause, and has no connection with any bite, or rather scratch, that 

 this little animal may give. 



In winter, especially, the shrew mouse generally fixes its residence in 

 some hay-loft, stable, or barn, where it feeds on grain, insects, and putrified 



1 Sorex arancus, Lin. The genus Sorex has two upper and two lower incisors; six or 

 eight upper and four lower spurious canines^or lateral incisors ; eight upper and six lower, 

 true molars ; upper middle mcisors hooked and dentatcd at base ; molars crowned with 

 points ; head much elongated ; nose prolonged and moveable ; ears short, rounded ; eyes 

 small, but perceptible ; tail more or less long, olten angidar ; feel with weak toes, sepa- 

 rated, furnished with crooked nails ; teats six or eight ; sebaceous glands on the sides. 



