CARNIVORA. TALPIDiE. 15 



galleries. They take to the water readily, and swim rapidly, and 

 being supplied with a dense, thick coat of fur, they leave it without 

 being wetted. The form of the body is cylindrical, terminating 

 anteriorly in an acute snout, which extends beyond the incisors. 

 The sight is much less perfect than in the Soricidae ; indeed, the 

 eyes appear rather as rudiments of an organ, than as intended for 

 the performance of the important function of sight. The nostrils 

 are exceedingly small, and invisible in the dried specimens. A 

 groove divides the snout into two equal parts. In the Condylura 

 the front teeth project forward, while in the Scalops they stand at 

 right angles to the jaw, or in the position of human teeth ; besides 

 the difference in the position of the teeth, the Condylura is 

 furnished with a circular fringe at the extremity of the nose, 

 whence it has received the appellation of the Star-nosed Mole. 



Genus Scalops. Cuv. 



Generic characters. Incisors § ; molars t§=t£ > — 44.* 

 Snout long and pointed ; fore feet palmate, and formed for exca- 

 vation, and concealed in the skin up to the wrists. 



1. Scalops Canadensis. Shrew Mole. 



Brown Mole, Penn., Arct. Zool. i. p. 141. 

 Sorex aquaticus, Lin., System. 

 Shrew Mole, Godman, Am. Nat. Hist i. p. 84. 

 Mole, Lewis and Clark, Journal. 



Figure ; Godman, i. p. 81. 



Specific characters. Color uniformly a light slate ; body elon- 

 gated, cylindrical, and tapering rapidly from the insertion of the 

 fore feet to the snout, which is elongated and grooved on the 

 upper and lower surfaces ; tail short, tapering, and terminated in 

 a thin pencil of hair. 



* The number of teeth is stated as only 30 in Stark's " Elements of Natural 

 History," an error easily proved by inspecting the mouth of the true Scalops. 

 The same author has erred also in giving the dental system of Sorex. There is 

 more excuse in th;s case, as the false grinders are small and crowded. 



