66 SoRTCiD^. 5IAMMALIA. Soricid^. 
manner to thrust the food into his mouth, doubling it 
so as to force it directly backwards.” 
THE MUSK RAT [Mygale moschata). — This rather 
ugly-looking animal has few characters in common 
with the moles, unless we make exception in favour of 
the form of the body, tbe shortness of the limbs, and 
some other non-essential features. It possesses a 
long snout or proboscis which is very mobile, and 
usually more or less curved downwards. The eyes, 
though small, are comparatively distinct, while the 
short ears scarcely project beyond the fur. The 
arrangement of the teeth is somewhat peculiar, there 
being six incisors, four of which, that is, two above and 
two below, are very largely developed, and look like 
canines; of these, however, there are none. There are 
no less than thirty-eight grinders, twenty in the upper 
and eighteen in the lower jaw. The feet are pentadacty- 
Icus, the digits being severally connected together by a 
membrane to facilitate locomotion in the water. The 
tail is about one-fourth shorter than the body, and 
compressed from side to side throughout, especially at 
the tip ; it is thinly haired, but very scaly, being also 
provided with numerous glandular follicles, arranged 
in double series along the under surface. These organs 
secrete a fatty matter or kind of pomatum giving out a 
peculiar musky odour. The fur presents a dusky- 
brown colour. The musk rat is very common in the 
rivers and lakes of southern Russia, and more particu- 
larly on the banks of the Volga. According to Mr. 
Ogilby, “ it does not appear to have been seen on dry 
land, and, indeed, it is broadly asserted that it never 
goes there, but wanders from lake to lake in fortuitous 
floods only. It is often seen swimming or walking 
under the water, and coming for air to the surface, 
where, in clear weather, it is apt to sport. Stagnant 
waters, shut in by high banks, are its favourite locali- 
ties, and in such places it makes burrows some twenty 
feet in length. Its principal food is alleged to consist 
of fish, leeches, and the larvae of water insects; but 
fragments of roots have been found in its stomach. Its 
pace is slow; but it does not seem to be torpid in 
winter, at which season it is often taken in nets. The 
holes which it makes in cliffs and banks have the 
entrance far beneath the lowest level of the water, and 
the animal works upwards, never, however, nearing 
the surface more than sufficiently high to secure itself 
from the farthest rise of the river. Fish, as we have 
seen, form part of its food; but the quadruped in its 
turn falls a victim to the pikes and siluri, whose flesh 
becomes so impregnated with the flavour of musk in 
consequence, ag not to be eatable.” Formerly a very 
considerable trade was carried on at Orenberg for tbe 
sale of these animals’ skins and tails, which, from their 
extraordinary abundance, only realized a sale at the 
rate of twenty copecs per hundred — a sum equivalent 
to eightpence-three farthings, of English money. 
THE ELEPHANT MOUSE {Maaroscelides typicus). 
— This is perhaps the best known of the seven or eight 
species which constitute the members of the genus. 
Its name almost suggests a combination of tbe sublime 
and the ridiculous, for the only feature by which this 
tiny creature in any measure resembles the huge 
pachyderm, lies in the circumstance of its possessing 
an elongated proboscis-like snout, at the extremity of 
which there are two oblique perforations representing 
the nostrils. The base of the snout supports numerous 
long stiff hairs or whiskers. In regard to the teeth, 
there are ten incisors, six above and four below, no 
true canines, and thirty-two molars, that is, fourteen in 
the upper and eighteen in the lower jaw. The ears 
are large and thinly haired. The feet are pentadacty- 
lous and plantigrade, the digits corresponding to the 
thumbs in the fore-feet, and the great toes in the hind- 
feet being very short ; the claws are thin and strongly 
incurved. The fur has a tawny-brown colour, gradu- 
ally becoming whitish on the limbs. The length of 
the body is rather less than five inches, the tail being 
likewise three and a quarter inches long, a little 
swollen immediately beyond the root, and provided, in 
the males at least, with minute glandular follicles. 
This and some other species of so-called elephant mice 
live in south Africa. Their habits are diurnal, and 
they are frequently seen hunting for their pre}^ amongst 
the roots of brushwood and bushes. On being dis- 
covered, however, their timidity soon shows itself, and 
they scamper off in hot haste, retreating either into 
their natural burrows, or beneath stones and similar 
places of security. 
THE SOLENODON {Solenodon paradoxus). — The 
distinguished naturalist Brandt has emplo 3 ''ed this title 
to designate a remarkable animal forming a sort of 
gigantic shrew. It is an inhabitant of the island of St. 
Domingo, is covered with coarse fur, and possesses 
very long whiskers. Each jaw is armed with six 
incisor teeth, the two central ones of the upper series 
being very large and triangular, while the pair next 
outside the central ones of the lower jaw are elon- 
gated, conical, and hollowed out at the inner surface 
by a deep groove. These two pair assume the aspect 
of very powerful canines, but the latter have in reality 
no true representatives. The molars are twenty-eight 
in number, that is, seven on either side of each jaw 
This singular creature is larger than our common 
brown rat, being upwards of twenty inches in length, 
including the naked or scaly tail, which measures nine 
inches. The eyes are small, the nose slightly pro- 
boscidiform, the ears also being only moderately 
developed. The sides of the head and neck, as well as 
the abdomen and feet, exhibit a faint yellow-brown 
colour, with an occasional mixture of a greyish tint. 
THE COMMON SHREW {Sorex araneus).—Thie 6, 
fig. 21. The genus Sorex comprehends an extremely 
numerous series of individuals, and it has therefore 
been variously subdivided by different naturalists. 
Without, however, expressing any opinion as to the 
propriety of their arrangements, our object is to impart 
a definite and accurate knowledge of the more impor- 
tant forms, under whatever names they may be clearly 
recognized. Even the species under consideration has 
caused much controversy, but it is now very generally 
understood that the common shrew-mouse of the 
Biitish isles is correctly indicated by the above com- 
bined generic and specific title. Among the character- 
istics which distinguish this form we maj' especially 
refer to the teeth, of which there are probably ten 
incisors, though on this point there seems to be 
