204 MAMMALIA. 7E.RJE. Shrew. 



Inhabits Siberia about the rivers Oby and Kama.— Swells in moift or watery places under the roots 

 of trees, forming a neft of lichens, and collecting a magazine of feeds ; runs fwiftly, and burrows with 

 great readinefs ; bites fiercely, and has a voice fimilar to that of the Common Bat. The head is al- 

 moft as large as the whole body, and has a very long {lender nofe, which is furrowed underneath, and 

 garnifhed with whifkers reaching as far as the eyes ; the ears are fhort, broad, and naked ; the eyes 

 very fmall, and retractile: The fur is fine, gloffy, and of a grey colour in the upper parts of the body, 

 the lower parts whitifh. The whole body does not weigh above one dram, or the eighth part of an 

 ounce. 



412 2. Mufky Shrew. — 4. Sorex mofchatus. 6. 



The feet are webbed ; the tail is flattened edgewife, broadeft in the middle, and ends 

 in a point. Pallas, It. i. 156, Lepechin, It. 1. 178. t. 13. Erxleben, mam. 127. Schreber, iii. 



567. t. clix. 



Caftor mofchatus, or Mufky Beaver. Syft. nat. ed. xii. i. 79. Faun. Suec. p. 1 1. n. 28. — Muf. f. 

 Caftor mofchiferus, Mufk Rat, or Beaver, having the tail flattened vertically, and all the toes con- 

 nected by membranes- Briff. quad. 92. — Mus aquaticus, f. aquatilis, or Water Rat. Cluf. exot. 

 375. Jonft. quad. 169. t. 73. Aldrov. dig. 447. f. p. 448. J. G. Gmel. nov. com. Petrop. iv. 383. 

 t. xiii. f. 5. — Long-nofed Beaver. Penn. Syn. of quad. n. 192. — Mufcovy, or Mufk Rat. Raj. quad. 

 217. Sm. Buff. v. 260. pi. cxxxi. — Mufky Shrew. Penn. hift. of quad. 336. — Bifamraze. S. G. 

 Gmel. It. i. 28. t. 3.4. — Defman. Guldenftedt, Naturf. befch. iii. 107. t. 2. 



Inhabits the countries between the Volga and Tanais, from the fiftieth to the fifty-fcventh degree 

 of northern latitude. — This animal meafures feven inches in length, from nofe to rump, and the tail 

 is eight inches long ; the head refembles that of a Mole, and has a long flender nofe, which is carti- 

 , laginous, and very moveable, being garnifhed with twelve rows of white whifkers ; it has no external 

 ears, and very fmall eyes ; the body is rather fiat-fhaped, and, befides the fkin, is provided with a 

 pannlculus carnofus, or thin mufcle peculiar to the fkin, by which the animal is enabled to fhake it vio- 

 lently; the head and body are of a dulky colour, the belly is a whitifh afh colour; the feet are naked, 

 fcaly on their upper parts, and of a blackifh colour ; the tail is of a blackifh or duiky colour ; near 

 the root of the tail are feven or eight fmall glandular orifices, of a yellow colour, from which may be 

 expreffed about twenty grains of a yellowifh thick fluid, which has a very penetrating odour of mufk 

 or civet ; in the upper jaw there are four fore-teeth ; fix tufks in each jaw; four grinders on each fide 

 m the upper r and three on each fide of the lower jaw. This quadruped keeps conftantly on the bor- 

 ders of lakes or rivers, in the banks of which it digs holes, fimilar to thofe of the Otter, the entrance 

 being below the lowefc fall of the water, and the apartment above its higheft rife ; it is very flow of 

 foot ; feeds on water fiaggs and fifh, and is greedily devoured by Pikes and other ravenous filh, by 

 which thefe fometimes acquire fo ftrong a flavour of mufk as to render them uneatable. 



4.13 3. Water Shrew. — 5. Sorex fodicns. 7. 



The tail is of a middle length ; the body is blackifh on the upper parts, and light afli 

 coloured beneath ; the toes are fringed at the edges. Erxleb. mam. 124. Schreber, iii. 

 57_i.t.clxi.. 



Mufaraneus, 



