28 A Memoir on the Indian species of Shrews. [No. 1, 



indicus, L. (Fr. Cuv. Mamm. II, t. 28), are noted from Java, and 

 also from Massoua and from Suez ; and a supposed variety, termed 

 by him S. indicus, var. cinereo-wnea, from Schoa : and he else- 

 where suggests that these animals have probably been introduc- 

 ed by the shipping from S. E. Asia and its islands, and so found 

 their way ever to Schoa, where a different climate had affected the 

 colouring of the fur. On ship-board they could of course subsist 

 on Bi/ATTiE : but their presence (certainly that of the foetid S. gm- 

 rulescens of Bengal) would scarcely escape remark, the more espe- 

 cially as that of a single individual might seriously damage a whole 

 cargo ; besides the obvious necessity of both sexes being required 

 to continue the race, a condition most likely to be fulfilled by the 

 conveyal of a pregnant female with her future litter of some 5 or 6, 

 S. crassicaudus (nee crassicaudatus), Lichtenstein, refers to a 

 Musk Shrew inhabiting Egypt, and stated to be common about 

 Suez ; which may therefore be presumed identical with Dr. Biip- 

 pell's S. indicus from Suez ; and the description certainly seems to 

 approximate that of S. c^rulescens (length 5| in. ; tail 2f in.) : 

 and S. capensis, Geoffroy, is termed S. erancicus by Prof. Schinz, 

 who gives Mauritius as its habitat (length 3" 8'" ; tail \" 9"). The 

 most notable identification is that of Dr. Ruppell's specimens from 

 E. Africa and from Java, presuming the latter to be really from 

 that island. 



2. S. murinus, L. : S. myosurus, Pallas : S. ccerulescens, var., 

 Baffles : S. Griffithii (?), Horsfield : the common Malayan species 

 originally described from Java, and by Dr. Cantor in J. A. S. XV, 

 191, and thus denominated by him after Prof. Schinz (Synopsis mam- 

 inalium), who states it to inhabit Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, 

 Amboina, Japan, Bengal, Abyssinia, and the Cape of Good Hope. 

 "We have italicized the habitats which probably need verification : 

 and the Society possesses specimens from the Arakan and Khasya 

 hills, which accord with Dr. Cantor's description, I. e. ; but less so 

 with M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire's figure, in the Annates du Museum 

 cTHistoire Naturelle, torn. XVII, pi. 3, f. 2, which may nevertheless 

 be intended to represent the same species. As compared with a ma- 

 ture female from Arakan, taken out of spirit, the ears in M. Geof- 

 froy' s figure are represented too small, and neither the snout nor 



