MAMMALIA. 



35 



Tribe II. Galeopithecus. 



Fingers of the anterior limbs all furnished with trenchant 

 claws, and not longer than those of the posterior limbs ; so 

 that the lateral membrane performs only the office of a spe- 

 cies of parachute ; live upon trees, where they leap from 

 branch to branch; insectivorous. [Indian Archipelago.] 



FAMILY II. INSECTIVORA. 



No wings nor parachute, but clavicles like the first family. 

 Molar teeth studded with little conical points, in accordance 

 with their insectivorous habits ; some have long incisors in 

 front; others incisors and canini shorter than the molars; 

 mammae placed under the abdomen ; size small ; life noc- 

 turnal ; habitation, during the day, in holes and burrows. 

 In cold climates many of them pass the winter in a torpid 

 state. 



Genus I. ERiNACEusf-Lin. Hedgehog. 



Spines instead of hairs ; the skin of the back is furnished 

 with such muscles, that the animal, by inclining the head 

 and feet towards the abdomen, can shut itself up as in a 

 purse, and present his spines on all sides to an enemy ; ha- 

 bitation in the woods ; life nocturnal. 



Genus II. Sorex, Lin. Shrew. 



Body small, covered with hair; muzzle sharply pointed ; 

 ears short and rounded; upon each flank a band of stiff setse, 

 from which issues an odorous humour ; habitation in holes 

 excavated in the earth ; life nocturnal. 



Genus III. Talpa. Mole. 



Type of digging, subterranean animals; body thick and 

 short; muzzle elongated and terminated h) a movable snout, 

 serving to pierce the earth ; anterior limbs very short, very 

 strong, wide, with united fingers to the number of five, and 

 armed with trenchant claws proper for digging. Hinder feet 

 weak, and with five fingers; tail rather short; eye small and 

 concealed by hair ; no external ear. 



