Queries arid A7iswers. 471 



Gold on the Teeth, of Sheep. — Sir, In Vol. II. p. 467., I observe a note . 

 on the opinion among the peasantry of Scotland, that gold may be dis- 

 covered by examining the teeth of sheep feeding on pastures where it is 

 subjacent. I think that in one of the Roman poets there is a passage to 

 the same effect. I have part of the jaw of a sheep, in which the teeth are 

 coated with iron pyrites, looking like silver. This explains the origin of 

 the above-mentioned opinions ; the coating of silver, or gold-like pyrites, 

 being probably derived from the water or soil of the pastures where the 

 sheep have fed. — W. C. T. Jan. 28. 1830. 



The Water-Shrew. — Sir, Having seen in your valuable work, two inte- 

 resting accounts of the water-shrew, one by Mr. Dovaston (Vol. II. p. 2 19.), 

 and the other by W. L. (p. 236.), I beg leave to inform you, that in a mouse- 

 trap baited with cheese, in our cellar, within four or five miles of this town^ 

 two were taken, male and female, together with several other animals 

 which are not generally found in houses, principally the long-tailed field 

 mouse and common shrew ; during a severe frost, in the month of January^ 

 1825, when all the water in the neighbourhood was frozen over. The pit, 

 from which I rather suppose they came (having since seen one there), which 

 is not above three or four hundred yards from the house, is very shallow, 

 and must have been almost one complete sheet of ice, except in the deepest 

 parts ; and as the animal does not appear to go far from the edge, I should 

 apprehend it could not reach the water at all, and was therefore driven 

 from its usual haunts to seek food in places very dissimilar to its nature. 

 The male was taken about a week before the female : his colour was a 

 glossy black above, silvery beneath, and the throat of a deep chestnut colour, 

 which in the female was greyish. His length was 6 in. He did not appear 

 at all alarmed, but would not eat any thing, though I observed him every 

 now and then gnawing into pieces some grass and hay which were put into 

 his cage. He did not appear to swallow any part of them, but was continually 

 drinking of, and dabbling in, some water which was placed for him. He 

 died suddenly, without showing any symptoms of illness, the third day after 

 his capture, and apparently as plump as when he was taken. The female 

 was caught one evening in the following week, and though great care was 

 taken in removing her into another box, so as to prevent any injury, she 

 was found dead the following morning, I suppose from agitation, as the 

 traps were so constructed that they could not possibly have hurt either of 

 them : her length was a quarter of an inch less than that of the male, and her 

 colour generally lighter. I have since observed one, diving in the manner 

 Mr. Dovaston described, at the pit I before alluded to, in the month of 

 May, 1828, when it might be observed any evening for about six weeks, 

 after which time it disappeared, and has never returned since. The water- 

 shrew may certainly be considered one of the rarest quadrupeds in this 

 neighbourhood, as I have frequently searched for them, but have never 

 been able to find any others. There was also another of the AS'orex genus, 

 to which I should wish to call your attention, as I have never seen any 

 account of an animal similar to it. It was taken, in the summer of 1827, in 

 one of our clover fields, by the mowers, and brought to me when just killed* 

 At the first sight I took it to be a water-shrew, but, on closer inspection, I 

 found there were none of the ciliations on the tail and toes, which in the wa- 

 ter-shrew were very apparent, and white both in the male and female : in size 

 it was 5| in., nearly equal to the water-shrew. There are only two sorts of 

 shrews said to beBritish species, yet, from the characteristic marks of this ani- 

 mal, I am convinced that it must be one ; the water-shrew it evidently is not, 

 on account of there being no ciliations as if formed for swimming, and there 

 was no brook or pit near the field in which it was found, and in the summer 

 time I think this animal would not be far from the vicinity of water. The 

 common shrew, Mr. Donovan says, never exceeds 3 in., and this being 

 nearly twice that size, and of a much darker colour, indeed quite as deep a 



