FAMILY SORECID^E. 
19 
Description. Fur very long. Head large; eyes very minute. Fore feet naked, the hind 
ones sparsely covered with hair. Nose emarginate. Auditory foramen large, with two dis¬ 
tinct half divisions, sparsely hairy. Nails nearly as long as the toes. Tail sparsely covered 
with hair. Teeth : Incisors, §; cheek teeth, j-f — 32. 
Color. Above, blackish lead when looked at from before, and silvery lead when viewed in 
an opposite direction : paler beneath. Teeth black ; nose livid brown ; feet white. 
Length of head and body,. 3 ’ 2 - 3 ’ 5. 
Tail,. 0-9- 1-0. 
I have seen several specimens of this animal from the opposite shore of New-Jersey, and 
have heard of its capture near Albany, but have never had the fortune to meet with it in this 
State. Mr. Linsley, in the work cited above, states that he has taken it in Connecticut, 
answering exactly to the description given by Godman. 
Since the above was written, I have had an opportunity of examining a recent specimen 
from Queens county, which I refer to this species with the following description : 
Rostrum robust, broad. Whiskers numerous, long, radiating; those along the margin of 
the mouth O’5 long. A projecting fleshy septum just anterior to the two upper incisors, and 
extending nearly between them. Fur thick, moderately long, dark brown, very sparse around 
the region of the mouth and on the extremities, rather allowing the skin beneath to be seen ; 
rather more dense on the tail. Nose dark brown, bifid. Eyes with a small naked space 
around them, O’55 distant from the nose. Auditory hole large, transverse, narrowed beneath, 
naked, with an oblique septum across the upper half, and a small lobe near the middle, about 
0 ’ 5 posterior to the eye. Fore feet 0 ’ 5 long; three toes subequal, longest; outer toe slightly 
longer than the inner. Tubercles on the palms six; two in a line behind the inner toe, and 
two behind the outer; the fifth between the base of the second and third toes, counting from 
the outside, and the sixth is placed at the base of the fourth toe. On the hind feet, the 
tubercles are similar in number and situation, but are larger and more distinct. When the 
animal lies on its back, with the hind legs extended, the claws reach beyond the middle of the 
tail. Tail cylindrical, very slightly tapering. 
Total length,. 4’00. 
Of the tail,. O’75. 
Hind feet,. O’75. 
THE SMALL SHREW. 
SOREX PARVUS. 
Sorex parvus. Say, Long’s Exped. Vol. 1, p. 163. Linsley, Am. Jour. Vol. 39, p. 3?S. 
Small Shrew. Godman, Am. Nat. Hist. Vol. 1, p. 78, pi. fig. 2. 
Characteristics. Color brownish ash above, ash beneath. Tail one-third the length of head 
and body. Total length 3 0 - 3’5. 
