S76 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
trout. It is much smaller than the preceding species, being only ten or eleven inches in total length, 
nearly one-half of which is occupied by the long tail. The fur is chestnut-brown on the back, greyish- 
brown on the sides, and silvery grey on the belly ; the upper lip bears some pectinated whiskers, the 
sides of the trunk are covered with white and the fore-feet with brownish hairs ; while the hind-feet 
are naked and scaly. This animal also diffuses a strong musky odour. 
THE HAIRY-TAILED MOLE-SHREW * 
Besides the true Desmans this group is considered to include two or three singular little creatures 
which lead directly towards the true Moles. One of these is a Japanese species, discovered 
by Professor Siebold, and described by Professor Temminck under the name of Urotrichus talpoides , 
which we may call the Ilairy-tailed Mole-Shrew. It differs from the Desmans, and agrees with the 
true Shrews in having only two incisor teeth in the lower jaw. There are thirty-eight teeth in all. 
It is about the size of the common Water Shrew, with the nose greatly elongated, not into a flexible 
proboscis, but into a snout with the nostrils placed at the sides of the tip; the tail is about an inch 
long, stout, scaly, and covered with long hairs, which form a tuft ; the fur is brown and velvety, and 
the snout and feet flesh-coloured, and nearly naked. 
This animal is common at elevations of from 1,000 to 1,200 feet in the mountains of the southern 
and eastern parts of Japan, but becomes more rare towards the north. In its habits it resembles the 
Moles, digging out galleries in the earth, but going down deeper, and rarely if ever forming heaps of 
loose earth at the surface. 
A nearly allied species, Gibbs’ Mole Shrew ( Urotrichus Gibbsii), is found in North America. 
Another species, leading more towards the Shrews, was discovered in eastern Thibet by the 
Abbe David, and described by M. A. Milnc-Ed wards under the name of Uropsilus sormpes, or the 
Shrew-footed Uropsile. The general characters of the animal are very like those of Urotrichus , but it 
has one premolar less on each side in each jaw, making the total number of teeth only thirty-four. 
The tail is naked and scaly ; and the fur is of a slate-colour, with a slight brownish tinge. 
FAMILY X.— SORICIDfE, OR TILE SHREWS. 
A great number of small mouse-like and rat-like animals, presenting shades of character which 
render their classification almost insuperably difficult, constitute the family of the Shrews, which, as we 
have already stated, may be regarded as representing the generalised or central idea of the Insectivorous 
Mammal. On all sides the other families include anomalous species, and the characters which dis- 
tinguish these from their immediate fellows generally tend in the direction of the Shrews. 
In these creatures we find a mouse-like body, terminated in front by a small head, with a long 
pointed muzzle, and behind by a nearly naked, scaly tail of variable length. The eyes are small, as 
also are generally the ears ; the limbs are short, and nearly equal in size ; the skull is long and 
narrow, and has on each side of its base a space not filled up with bone ; the teeth are from twenty- 
eight to thirty-two in number, and the middle incisors in both jaws are very large ; the skull has no 
zygomatic arch or tympanic bony bubble ; the bones of the shank (tibia and fibula) are united ; and 
the intestine has no caecum. On the sides of the body or at the root of the tail the Shrews possess 
peculiar glands, which secrete a fluid of strong odour, serving no doubt to protect them from many 
enemies. 
The Shrews are distributed over all parts of the Old World and in North America. They live 
generally on the ground, although some take freely to the water, and they feed upon worms, insects, 
and other small animals such as they can overcome. The difficulty of classifying these animals to 
which we have already alluded has led to their being divided into an infinity of generic groups, of 
which we shall endeavour to illustrate those which are now most generally accepted. 
THE COMMON SHREW.f 
The Common Shrew, or Shrew-mouse, as it is often called, may be noticed first, as being the 
species most likely to be met with by our readers, in this country at any rate. It is one of the species 
for which the Linnean generic name Sorex has been retained, the group as restricted including Shrews 
* Urotrichus talpoides , f Sorex vulgaris. 
