no SORICID^— SOREX 



1811. SOREX MINIMUS, Isidore Geoffroy, Ann. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. (Paris), xvii., 



186 ; renaming S. minutus of Linnaeus. 

 1832. (?)SOREX PUMILIO, J. Wagler, Oken's /kj (Jena), 54 ; described from Bavaria ; 



see Nathusius in Weigmann's Archiv fiir Naturgeschichte, 1838, i., 19-47. 

 1838. SOREX RUSTlCUS, Leonard Jenyns, Ann. Nat. Hist., i., 423 ; described from 



England ; MacGillivray, appendix, in error. 

 1838. SOREX RUSTlCUS, var. ft S. HIBERNICUS, Leonard Jenyns, loc. cit.j described 



from Dublin, Ireland. 



1842. Amphisorex pyGMjEUS, G. L. Duvernoy, Gu^rin's Mag. de Zool., 30, pi. 48. 



1843. CORSIRA RUSTICA, J. E. Gray, List of the Specimens of Mammalia in the 

 Collection of the British Museum, 79 ; Abbey, The Balance of Nature, 1909, 5. 



1844. SOREX PUMILUS, S. Nilsson, Ofversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akad. forhand- 

 lingar (Stockholm), i., 33, 20th March ; described from North-Eastern Skaane, 

 Sweden. 



1890. HOMALURUS PYGM^US, E. Schultz, Schriften des Naturwissenschaftlichen 

 Vereins des Harzes (Wernigerode), v., 28. 



La Musaraigne pygm^e of the French ; die Zwergspitzmaus of the 

 Germans. 



The plan of the synonomy, which is comparatively simple, is similar 

 to that of 5. araneus. Minutus, although overlooked until recent years, 

 is undoubtedly the correct name for the European Pygmy Shrew,^ at least 

 until such time as the Pygmy Shrew of the Jenesei district may be shown 

 to be distinct. Of the remaining names, some are pure synonyms, 

 while others may prove to be applicable to local races or even to 

 distinct species ; ccecutiens was pronounced by Pallas, who examined 

 Laxmann's specimens, to be identical with pygmceus, while pumilio has 

 been similarly placed by Nathusius ; rusticus and hibernicus were 

 bestowed respectively upon the Pygmy Shrews of England and Ireland 

 by Jenyns in days when these animals were very little known to 

 naturalists. The species was well discussed by Gloger in 1827, Nov. 

 Act. Phys-Med. Acad. Cces. Leap. Nat. Cur. (Bonn), 483-498, coloured 

 plate XXV. It first appeared in its proper status as a British mammal 

 in Bell's second edition, the account of it which appeared in that work 

 having been written by E. R. Alston. Further details of its history 

 will be found below on pp. 116-117. 



Local names: — See above, under Common Shrew, p. 85. Grass- 

 mouse of Co. Fermanagh, Ireland (see Adams, Zoologist, 1906, 439; 

 rone ( = thicket) -mouse (see Dial. Did.) of Orkney (Moodie Heddle). 



Distribution: — The range of S. minutus is as yet imperfectly 

 known, but it is found certainly throughout arctic, boreal, and 

 transitional Europe, from sea-level to at least 5500 feet, as in Trans- 

 sylvania ; and from Ireland eastwards to the Altais (Kashtchenko), and 

 the shores of the Pacific, including Korea, Kamchatka, Hondo, and 



> For a further explanation, see below, p. 117. 



