SoRicii)^. MAMMALIA. Sokicid.®. 67 
considerable difference of opinion. They are “ much 
produced ; the upper ones curved and notched at the 
base, the lower ones almost horizontal.” There are in 
all twenty-four molars or grinding teeth, but no true 
canines. The length of the body, not including the 
tail, is about two and a half inches. The fur exhibits 
a reddish tint on the back, which passes from the 
ordinary mouse-colour to a light-grey on the under 
surface of the belly. The snout is conical and pointed; 
the eyes and ears are small — the latter being scarcely 
visible — and furnished with two lobes internally. With 
regard to its habits Mr. Bell observes, that “ the 
common shrew frequents dry situations, feeding upon 
insects and worms, in the pursuit of which its attenu- 
ated snout enables it to grub amongst the closest 
herbage, or under the surface of the soil; for which 
habits it is also adapted by its soft, short, velvety coat, 
and its extensible form. Like the mole and other 
insectivorous tribes, it is very impatient of hunger 
during summer; like that animal too it is excessively 
pugnacious, so that it is rare to see two of them 
together excepting in the act of fighting. If two shrews 
he confined in a box together, a very short time elapses 
before the weaker is killed and partly devoured. They 
not only destroy each other, but there is reason to 
believe that many of them are victims to the voracity 
of the mole.” A friend also informed him “ that, in a 
field which had always before been abundantly 
inhabited by shrews, scarcely one had been seen during 
the then present season ; but that a colony of moles 
had occupied the district, to whose voracity he, with 
much probability, attributed the disappearance of the 
shrews.” Touching the early history of this creature 
many curious superstitions were formerly held in 
this country respecting them ; but though, as we have 
recently taken occasion to show, these follies do still 
exist in regard to certain animals, we are inclined to 
believe that, so far at least as the shrews are concerned, 
they have almost entirely passed away. The childish 
notion that lameness of the foot or sonte grave disease 
could result from the mere accidental passage of a 
shrew over that part of the body of another animal 
was really credited, and, absurdlj^ enough, induced our 
intellectual peasantry to prepare a ridiculous charm, 
which they swore to be an unfailing antidote against 
these imaginary injuries. This preparation was called 
shrew-ash, and a twig or fragment of it constituted the 
remedy. The modus operandi in the manufacture 
of this ash is thus described by Mr. Gilbert White : — 
“ At the south corner of the plestor or area, near the 
church, there stood about twenty years ago a very old, 
grotesque, hollow’ pollard-ash which, for years had 
been looked upon with no small veneration as a shrew- 
ash. Now' a shrew-ash is an ash whose twigs or 
branches, when applied to the limbs of cattle, will 
immediately relieve the pains which a beast suffers 
from the running of a shrew-mouse over the part 
affected ; for it is supposed that the shrew-mouse is of 
so baneful and deleterious a nature that, whenever it 
creeps over a beast, be it horse, cow, or sheep, the 
suffering animal is afflicted with cruel anguish, and 
threatened with the loss of the use of the limb. 
Against this accident, to which they were continually 
liable, our provident forefathers always kept a shrew- 
ash at hand, which, when once medicated, would 
maintain its virtue for ever. A shrew’-ash was made 
thus: — Into the body of the tree a deep hole was bored 
w'ith an auger, and a poor devoted shrew-mouse was 
thrust in alive, and plugged in, no doubt with several 
quaint incantations long since forgotten.” Some other 
methods of cure w'ere likewise had recourse to, but of 
these it is unnecessary to speak further. The shrew'- 
mouse propagates very rapidly, the female bringing 
forth six or seven young ones at a birth. The nest 
is rudely constructed of grass and other vegetable 
materials, and is placed in superficial holes in the 
earth, especially amongst hedgebanks, the debris and 
snug recesses of which afford abundant security. An 
excess of these animals is wisely prevented by the 
agency of owls, moles, and weasels, and also, it would 
appear from the statements of several writers, by a 
special mortality which cuts them off by hundreds 
during the autumnal months. The immediate cause of 
this phenomenon yet remains to be exjjlained. 
THE WATER SHREW {Sorex fodiens) .—This form 
is darker than the common shrew upon the back, and 
also, on the other hand, of a lighter colour beneath the 
belly, being in point of fact, quite white. The feet 
and tail are provided with conspicuous, but thinly set 
hairs. The ears and eyes are veiy small, the auricles 
being furnished with three internal lobes. It is also a 
somewhat stouter species, while, at the same time, it 
measures three and a quarter inches in length. The 
fur is veiy close, smooth, and downy — a circumstance 
which, together with an increased breadth of the feet, 
favours the development of its swimming propensities. 
Perhaps the best account of the habits of this pretty 
little animai, is that long ago recorded by Mr. Dovaston 
in the second volume of Loudon's Magazine of Natural 
History. Speaking of the behaviour of one of these 
shrews, he says — “ It swam w'ith great agility and free- 
dom, repeatedly gliding from the bank under water, 
and disappearing below the mass of leaves at the 
bottom, doubtless in search of its insect food. It 
very shortly returned and entered the bank, occasion- 
ally putting its long sharp nose out of the water, and 
paddling close to the edge. This it repeated at fre- 
quent intervals from place to place, seldom going more 
than two yards from the side, and always returning in 
about half a minute. Sometimes it' would run a little 
on the surface, and sometimes timidly and hastily come 
ashore, but with the greatest caution, and instantly 
jilunge in again.” This species has a pretty wide dis- 
tribution throughout the British isles, being found in 
Devonshire, and also as far north as Scotland. The 
female brings forth six or seven young at a birth. 
THE OARED SHREW {Sorex remifer). — This is a 
comparatively large species, and, like the two pre- 
ceding, indigenous to the islands of Great Britain. Its 
body is rather more than three inches long, the tail 
also being two-thirds of the entire length of the animal. 
The last-named organ has a quadrilateral shape. It is 
flattened towards the tip, being also provided with 
stoutish hairs along the under surface. The fur is of 
a rich black colour, except at the lower part of the 
belly, where, in some specimens at least, it is greyish- 
