512 Tin: AMi:UirAX XATI-RM.IST [V.n. XLT 



alon^ witli stuffed and empty sliells, at several biirrows. The 

 occupied shells were acrani removed, to die exclusion of the others. 



Sight.— Blarina has not been accredited with acute vision, 

 the principal function of its eyes beinp;, as IVIerriam (1886, p. 

 ]().">) has supposed, to distinguish light from shadow. To deter- 

 mine thi> point at first hand, various te^t.> were made on the shrew 

 in the laboratorv. Objects varying in size from a lead pencil to a 

 l)ook ^^■cIv waved ix'fore the shrew, first at a distance of a foot or 

 more. No notice wa^ taken of them. The distance was gradually 

 shortened unlil tli(^ ()l))(>cts almost touched the shrew's vibrissae, 

 but still the animal was not disturbed. Once when a cigar box 

 was thrust violctitlv toward [ho shrew, the latter shrank back 

 and inunediatcly turned to face the ol)iect. Thinking that the 

 response might have l)een due to an cuirent>, I mo\ed various 

 objects, as cards, boxes, or books, toward or ]mi>\ th(> >luv\\ m an 

 oblique position so as to produce currents. The -hi(>\\ ui\aruibly 

 noticed these although its head was sometime^ tin-ncd a\\a\ from 

 the object. I then blew lightly ui)on the animal and it turned 

 towani me and chattered vehemently. I have concluded that, in 

 the above case where notice was taken of the cio-ar 1)0X, the response 



were nuKhM.n the opposite ^id.- of tlu- . nu<- >o a^ to thi 

 o^crtheshrew,theauimal^^a.a^on..Mli.tuHH.d. If; 

 as a book, were used to cast the shallow, the >hn- 

 hurried into one of its l>urrows. >i.uht, then, » an 

 to distinguish occupied from cnipn oi- >tutlcd >iuiil > 

 where a human observer could not di>( ( iti a diih 

 remaining possible means ot di-iinuui-hinu ilicm i> 1 

 Smell. — When mice or brcf were phicctl in the ( <i 

 almost invariably came out of it> l>uiro\\> in ;i -h 

 rarely did so when tlu li.l w;i^ nicrclx iai>ed and io\\« 

 other objects, as the water di-h. \\<"ic put ni. In tli 



