THE ELEPHANT SHREW. 
35 1 
on each side, incisors, f, canines, B premolars, f, and molars, f, the incisors being small, and the 
upper canines furnished with two roots. In the exceptional genus Rhynchocyon , 
which includes only a single species, there is only one incisor in the upper jaw, and 
even this falls out as the animal grows old. 
The species of this family are peculiar to Africa, where they are found in Algeria 
and Barbary, along the east coast, and at the Cape of Good Hope. 
THE ELEPHANT SHREW* 
This appears to be the commonest species in Southern Africa, where its habits were 
observed by the late Sir Andrew Smith, who founded for it the genus Macroscelides. It 
is about five inches long, with a tail of about three inches, and its colour is a tawny 
brown, becoming whitish on the limbs. It is diurnal in its habits, and very active, 
hunting for its bisect prey among the scanty herbage and stunted shrubs, which alone 
flourish in the dry rocky spots which it chooses for its place of habitation. It resides in burrows in 
SOLE OF EIGHT 
HIND FOOT OF 
ELEPHANT SHREW. 
(Natural Size). 
ELEPHANT SllREW (Half Natural Size). 
the ground, and when disturbed immediately rushes to take shelter in its home, or under some neigh- 
bouring rock or stone. 
Sir Andrew Smith described several other South African species, and at least one has been 
obtained on the Mozambique coast. In then* structure and general habits they agree with the above- 
mentioned animal. 
THE ALGERIAN JUMPING SHREW.f 
Besides these southern species, however, the French naturalists have discovered a species of this 
genus in Algeria, and it is also found to inhabit Barbary. It is known to the French colonists in Algeria 
by the name of the “ Rat d trompe.” This animal is of the same size as the preceding — that is to say, 
about five inches long; its tail measures four inches, and its long slender snout about half an inch. It has 
a soft tawny fur on the back and sides, and the lower surface is whitish. The Algerian Jumping Shrew 
is said to feed not only upon insects, but also upon vegetable matters. It is gentle and inoffensive, 
and may be easily tamed, when its gambols are said to be very sprightly and amusing. 
# Macroscelides typicus. 
f Macroscelides Ro~eti. 
