1855.] A Memoir on the Indian species of Shrews. 27 



S. indices, Geoffroy, v. S. Sonneratii, Is. Geoffroy, is accepted as 

 a distinct species from S. c^reeescens in Dr. Horsfield's Catalogue 

 of the specimens of mammalia in the India House Museum (1851) ; 

 and a specimen is noted from the Dukhun, presented by Col. Sykes, 

 and the following habitat given for the species — " Continent and 

 islands of India." Col. Sykes terms it the Oheechonder of the Mah- 

 rattas ; being the same name which is applied to S. cereeescens 

 in Bengal, spelt Choochundr by Dr. Cantor (J. A. & XV, 191), and 

 the latter author gives " Chinchorot of the Malays of the peninsula" 

 as the name of the very distinct species referred by him and others 

 to S. merires, L. ; which latter was originally described from Java. 

 According to Col. Sykes, these troublesome and disagreeable animals 

 are very numerous in Dukhun, but much more so in Bombay. The 

 sebaceous glands in an old male were observed to be very large, and 

 the odour of musk from them almost insupportable ; while in an 

 adult female the glands were scarcely discernible and the scent of 

 musk very faint. [It is tolerably strong in the female of S. c^re- 

 lescens ; though more or less so, perhaps, with reference to sexual 

 condition.] " The Sorex indices and S. gigantees," it is added, 

 " are regarded by Col. Sykes as specifically identical, he having killed 

 them in the same room, and seen them frequently together." 

 (P. Z. S. 1831, p. 99). Prof. Schinz accordingly assigns S. gigan- 

 tees, Geoff., " Ann. du Mus. XV, pi. 4, of 3," as a synonyme of 

 S. indicus : but the reference is erroneous, the Memoires du Museum, 

 torn. XV (to which we have not access), being probably intended. 

 S. gigantees, Is. Geoff., Voij >. de Belanger, refers to $, ccerulescens 

 of Bengal. 



According to M. Isidore Geoffroy, the S. indices (his &. Son- 

 neratii) is a smaller animal than S. cjerueescens (his S. giganteus), 

 with tail forming always a quarter of the entire length. Length of 

 head and body of adult, a little under 4 in. (Fr). Eur ashy, washed 

 with russet-brown ; and pale ashy below. Inhabits the Coromandel 

 coast, and also the Mauritius. If truly a distinct species from 

 S. CiERELESCENS, its natural habitat is probably "W. India : but we 

 have vainly sought for information of such an animal. 



In Dr. Eiippeli's printed Catalogue of the specimens of mam- 

 malia in the Frankfurt Museum (1842), examples referred to S. 



e 2 



