622 INSECTIVORA 
their homology is exceedingly difficult to determine. Three molars 
are invariably present, of which the third is much the smallest. In 
the mandible there are always six teeth, but in one species of 
Myosorex there may be a seventh. 
The first lower incisor is usually 
directed horizontally forwards; the 
second incisor (formerly reckoned as 
the canine) is the smallest tooth of 
the series, the fourth premolar being 
slightly larger. 
This family, which includes con- 
siderably more than half the re- 
presentatives of the order, has a 
distribution coextensive with the 
latter. Many classifications of this 
ait, Sante ey fe ical group have been attempted 
Te the cheatin, first incisor ; ¢, fost but according to the latest proposal 
incisor; p, canine; m, fourth premolar: of Dr. Dobson,1 the genera may be 
in the mandible—i, first incisor; c, second divided into two subfamilies, dis- 
incisor; p, fourth premolar; m,firstmolar. ~! x Clase 
(From Alston, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1877.) tinguished by the apparently trivial 
character of the colour of the teeth. 
Subfamily Soricinze.—Summits of the teeth coloured red. 
Sorex.2—Dentition : i 4,¢4, p 2, m %; total 32. Openings of 
male and female generative organs separated from the anal orifice ; 
penis cylindrical or tapering; ear well developed; tail long, 
covered with equal or subequal hairs. 
It has been shown by Brandt that the position of the pre- 
maxillo-maxillary sutures in the type of the genus is between the 
fourth and fifth tooth, so that it appears that we must regard this 
genus as differing from all other Eutherian mammals in having four 
upper incisors. Dr. Dobson, in his paper quoted, classes the tooth 
here reckoned as the upper canine with the premolar series in all 
the Shrews. Habits terrestrial. Species numerous, inhabiting the 
Palearctic and Nearctic regions. 
Of the two species found in the British Isles the Common 
Shrew (S. vulgaris, Fig. 287) is by far the most common in England, 
and is about the size of the House Mouse, to which it approximates 
in general form. The body is clothed with close long fur, very 
soft and dense, and varying in colour from light reddish to dark 
brown above, rarely speckled or banded with white. The under 
surface of both the body and the tail is grayish. The basal four- 
fifths of all the hairs above and beneath are dark bluish-gray ; the . 
hairs of the tail are less densely set and coarser. On each side of 
the body, at a point about one-third of the distance between the 
elbow and the knee, may be found, especially in the rutting season, 
1 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1890, p. 49. * Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. vol. i. p. 73 (1766). 
