512 MAMMALIA. 



occasionally. They lead a solitary life in holes, which they find 

 ready-made, or which they dig for themselves ; they seldom leave 

 these retreats during the day. In winter, when food is scarce, 

 they force their way into barns, stables, &c. The various species, 

 however, do not frequent the same kind of locality. Some show 

 a great preference for woods, and generally all the dry regions ; 

 others only inhabit damp meadows on the banks of streams. 

 Some swim with ease, aided by their tail, which is flattened in 

 the form of an oar, and seek their subsistence about water. 



Shrew Mice are furnished with a gland on each flank, which 

 is surrounded with bristly hair, and secretes a greasy matter, 

 having a penetrating odour like musk. This odour is so powerful 

 that it is most repugnant to other animals. The Cat pursues and 

 kills them, but never eats them. For a long time it had been 

 believed that the bite inflicted by these tiny Insectivora on 

 domestic animals was poisonous. This is a mistake ; their bite is 

 completely inoffensive. 



There have been found, along with Egyptian money, the bones 

 of the Shrew Mouse, a fact which goes to prove that the ancient 

 Egyptians placed it among their sacred animals. Plutarch ex- 

 plains this circumstance by saying that the Shrew Mouse is 

 deprived of sight, and that, according to the Egyptians, darkness 

 is older than light. The explanation is as obscure as the fact. 



Shrew Mice are found in every part of the globe ; they are 

 met on the two continents in all latitudes. Nevertheless, it is in 

 Europe, and particularly in France and Germany, that they are 

 most numerous. The principal species are the Common Shrew 

 Mouse, or Piper, which inhabits Central and Southern Europe ; 

 the Etruscan Shrew Mouse, proper to the South of France and 

 certain parts of Italy, — it is the smallest species in the genus, not 

 measuring more than two and a half inches long, head and tail 

 included ; the Rat-tailed or Griant Shrew Mouse, the largest of the 

 genus, its size attaining nearly that of the Norway Rat, — it 

 inhabits India and the Indian Archipelago, and the odour it 

 exhales is so powerful that it puts serpents to flight, and taints 

 the water in vessels it passes near ; lastly, the Water Shrew and 

 the Oared Shrew, which are aquatic in their habits, and are found 

 in the whole of Europe, — they are also well known in the suburbs 

 of Paris. 



