I" 
80 
MAMMALIA. 
The Solenodon {Solenodon, Brandt) — 
Resembles a gigantic Shrew, but with coarse fur, and proportionally much longer whiskers : the tail is 
long, naked, and scaly, and the claws considerably more developed. There are six incisors to each 
jaw, the first pair above, and the second pair below, very large, and resembh'ng canines ; two superior 
false molars, and three inferior, on each side ; then five true molars above, and four below, subquad- 
rate, and broad or transverse. 
The species, S. paradoxus, Brandt, inhabits Hayti, and is larger than the Brown Rat.] 
The Desmans {Mygale^, Cuv.) — 
Differ from the Shrews by having [like the Solenodon] two very small teeth placed between the two 
large inferior jncisors, and in their upper incisors, which are flattened and triangular. Behind these 
incisors are six or seven small teeth, and four bristled molars. Their muzzle is elongated into a small, 
very flexible proboscis, which is constantly in motion. Their long tail, scaly and flattened at the sides, 
and their feet with five toes all connected by membrane, proclaim them to be aquatic animals. Their 
eyes are very small, [the fur long, straight, and divergent,] and they have no external ears. 
The Russian Desman (Sorex moschatus, Lin).— Nearly equal in size to the common Urchin ; blackish above,* 
inclining to white beneath ; the tail one fourth shorter than the body. It is very common along the rivers and lakes ' 
of Southern Russia, where it feeds on worms, the larvae of insects, and particularly on Leeches, which it easily with- 
draws from the mud by means of its flexible proboscis. Its burrow, excavated in a bank, commences under water, 
and ascends to above the level of the highest floods. This animal never comes voluntarily on shore, but is taken ' 
very often in the nets of the flshermen. Its musky odour arises from a kind of pomatum secreted in small follicles 
under the tail, and is even communicated to the flesh of Pike which devour the Desman. 
There is found in the streamlets of the Pyrenees a smaller species of this genus, which has the tail longer than 
its body {Myg. pyrenaica, H.) [This constitutes the division Mygalina of Isidore Geoffroy. 
The rest of the Insectivora have amazingly powerful fore-feet, designed for tearing open the ground, 
rathei* than for burrowing by merely scratching away the mould, as in the preceding genera.] 
The Chrysochlores {Chrysocloris, Lacepede), — 
Like the preceding genus, possess two incisors above and four below ; but their grinders are elevated, 
distinct, and nearly all in the form of triangular prisms : the muzzle is short, broad, and recurved ; and] 
their fore-feet have only three nails, of which the exterior is very large, much arcuated, and pointed, | 
forming a powerful instrument for digging and burrowing into the soil ; the others successively decrease] 
in size. Their hind limbs have five toes of the ordinary dimensions. They are subterraneous animals,! 
whose mode of life is similar to that of the Moles. To enable them to dig the better, their fore-arm | 
is supported by a third bone placed under the cubitus. 
The Cape Chrysochlore (Talpa asiatica, Lin. [now better known as C. capensis, Desm.)]. — Rather smaller than ! 
our Moles, without apparent tail. It is the only known quadruped which presents any appearance of those splendid ! 
metallic reflections which adorn so many birds. Ashes, and insects. Its fur is of a green, changing to copper or| 
bronze : the ears have no conch, and the eyes are not perceptible.f It inhabits Africa, and not Siberia, as falsely ' 
reported. [There are three others, C. Hottentota, Damarensis, and villosa, all from the same general locality.] 
The Moles {Talpa, Lin.) — 
Are well known for their subterraneous life, and for their structure eminently qualified in adaptation to 
it. A very short arm, attached to a large shoulder-blade, supported by a stout clavicle, and provided 
with enormous muscles, sustains an extremely large hand, the palm of which is always directed either 
outwards or backwards : tbe lower edge of this hand is trenchant, and the fingers scarcely perceptible,^ 
but the nails which terminate them are long, fiat, strong, and sharp. Such is the instrument which J 
the Mole employs to tear open the ground, and throw back the mould behind it. Its sternum possesses, 
in common with that of Birds and Bats, a ridge which allows the pectoral muscles to attain the mag- - I 
nitude requisite for the performance of their functions. To pierce and raise up the ground, it makesS 
• This name being preoccupied by a genns of Spiders, Fischer has 
altered it to Myogalea . — Ed. 
t The Red Mole of America, SebaT. pi. xxxii. fig. 1, {Talpa ruhra, 
Lin.), is most probably a Cape Chrysochlore, figured from a dried spe- 
cimen, for then the fur appears purple. [It is more likely the Scalops 
canadensis.'] But the Tucan of Fernandez, regarded as one of 
synonymes, appears rather, to judge from its two long teeth to each 
jaw, and vegetable regimen, to be some subterraneous rodent, perhaps 
a Diplostoma. 
If 
