SHREWS 



43 



and those of the shrew. On diving beneath the sea, the ears of 

 the seal are immediately closed by the pressure of the water upon 

 them, so that not even the tiniest drop can find admission to the 

 delicate organs within. The ears of the water-shrew are formed 

 in almost exactly the same way, so that not a drop of water can 

 enter them when the animal is diving. 



In olden days, country people had very curious superstitions 

 concerning these 

 harmless little ani- 

 mals. One of these 

 was, that a cow over 

 which a shrew had 

 run would sufferfrom 

 terrible swellings in 

 the body, and at last 

 die from a kind of 

 consumption. Such 

 cattle were said to 

 be "shrew-struck". 

 It was thought, too, 

 that the only way to 

 save their lives was 

 to burn the body 

 of a shrew, and 

 apply the ashes to 



the wound. The Garden-shrew 



Sometimes, however, a shrew could not be obtained. But it 

 was said that the branch of an ash-tree in which one of these 

 animals had been buried alive would answer quite as well. Accord- 

 ingly, it was not uncommon to have an ash-tree ready for such an 

 emergency, and it was prepared in this wise. A hole was bored in 

 the trunk, a shrew introduced, and the hole closed by a wooden 

 plug, the unfortunate prisoner being left to perish from starvation. 

 For "shrew-struck" animals a branch of this tree was thought to 

 be an unfailing specific! 



