68 SoRiciD^E.- MAMMALIA. Soeicid.e. 
black, and also of a yellow tinge towards the region of 
the throat. The snont is compressed, the eyes and 
ears are small, the latter being bordered by a fringe of 
whitish-coloured hairs. The teeth exhibit a rusty or 
chestnut hue at their tips — a peculiarity, however, not 
confined to any particular species. Like the water 
shrew, its habits are essentially aquatic. 
THE INDIAN SHREW {Sorex indicus). — Though in 
general appearance this species closely resembles the 
common shrew, the size at once distinguishes it, being 
in this respect equal to our common brown rat. In 
virtue of a very strong musky odour, it imparts a pecu- 
liarly nauseous smell to every thing with which it 
may happen to come in contact. Some of the stories 
told of its powers of communicating odoriferous pro- 
perties to particular objects, appear to be rather 
exaggerated. For example, we are informed that wine 
in a properly-closed bottle will become impregnated 
with a musky flavour, merely by the circumstance of 
this animal’s passing over the exterior surface of the 
glass ! Surely this savours a little of the imaginative. 
At all events, the little beast enjoys an unenviable 
credit on this score. It is better known by the name 
of the Indian musk rat. 
THE AMERICAN MARSH SHREW {Sorex pahistr is). 
— This species is principally marked by the possession 
of an unusually long tail, combined with very short 
hairy ears which lie entirely concealed beneath the 
fur. The hairy covering exhibits a hoary black colour, 
except on the belly, where it is lighter and of an ash- 
grey tint, the texture throughout being dense, soft, and 
lustrous. The teeth are thirty in number; that is, 
four incisors and twenty-six molars. Sir John Kich- 
ardson was the first to describe this shrew, and he 
obtained several specimens in British America during 
his explorations with the expedition under Sir John 
Franklin. With regard to its habits, he says that it 
“ lives in the summer on similar food with the water 
shrew, but,” he adds, “I am at a loss to imagine how it 
procures a subsistence during the six months of the 
year in which the countries it inhabits are covered 
with snow. It frequents the borders of lakes, and 
Ilearne tells us that it often takes up its abode in beaver 
houses.” The length of the body, not including the 
tail, is precisely three and a half inches. 
FORSTER’S SHREW {Sorex Forstcri).— \ihQ shrew 
thus named appears to have been first noticed by For- 
ster, and described by him in the sixty-second volume 
of the Philosophical Transactions. It resembles the 
oared shrew in respect of the quadi angular form of the 
tail, and in some other minor particulars. The length 
of the body is about two and a quai ter inches. It is 
armed with thirty-two teeth, four being incisors and 
the remainder true and false molars. The snout is 
much attenuated ; the whiskers are conspicuous, and 
the ears completely enveloped by the fur. The author 
of the “Fauna Boreali Americani,” speaks of it as fol- 
lows : — “ This little animal is common throughout the 
whole of the fur countries to the sixtj'^-sevenlh degree 
of latitude, and its minute foot-prints are seen every- 
where in the winter when the snow is sufficiently fine 
to retain the impression. I have often traced its 
pathway to a stalk of grass by which it appears to 
descend fi’om the surface of the snow ; but a search 
for its habitation b}^ removing the snow was invariably 
fr uitless. I was unable to procure a recent specimen.” 
And further on he says — “It is the smallest quadruped 
the Indians are acquainted with, and they preserve 
skins of it in their conjirring bags. The power of 
generating heat mrrst be very great in this diminutive 
creature, to pueserve its tender limbs from freezing 
when the temperature sinks forty or fifty degrees below 
zero.” 
SAVI’S SHREW {Sorex etruscus). — To the general 
observer of nature, the distinctions established between 
the numerous species of shrew may not at first sight 
appear very satisfactory, and it is partly on this account 
that wm find it necessary to cotrfine our attention to the 
more striking or better known forms. There is a little 
North American form, emphatically called the small 
shrew-mouse — the Sorex parvus of Say and Richard- 
son — which is only two inches and three-quarters in 
length; but this specific title might perhaps with greater 
propriety be applied to the species under consideration ; 
for Savi’s shrew is not only believed to be the smallest 
in existence, but it is probably the tiniest of all 
living quadrupeds, excepting, of course, those which 
have not attained their adult or fully developed state. 
The body of Say’s small shrew measures two inches 
and three-quarters, without reckoning the tail ; whereas 
the little Sorex etruscus scarcely exceeds two inches 
and a half, two entire fifths of which measurement 
belong to the caudal appendage. It is an inhabitant 
of Italy and the northern coasts of Africa. Notwith- 
standing what we have here advanced, it will doubtless 
occur to our readers that some of the bats scarcely 
exceed this animal in length ; although, if placed side 
by side with the pipistrelle, this bat would appear in 
all likelihood comparatively bulky. 
THE BULATJ {Gymnura Rafflesii). — The members 
of this and the two following genera offer such pecu- 
liarities as scarcely to entitle us to classify them with 
the Soricidse, properly so called ; and on the one baud, 
they neither sufficiently agree in their respective char- 
acters, so as to enable our associating them together 
under a separate family title, nor, on the other, are 
they clearly referable to the Tupaiadce ; yet, as they 
exhibit characters of a very mixed kind, wm cannot at 
present, perhaps, do better than briefly record them 
in the order here adopted. The head of the bulau is 
much elongated and compressed from side to side, the 
muzzle being pi-oboscidiibrm, obtuse at the tip, and 
continued forward a considerable distance beyond the 
lower jaw. The eyes are rather small, and the ears 
rounded, conspicuous, and naked. The body is stoutish 
posteriorly, and terminates in a long, smooth, scaly 
tail which supports a few thinly scattered hairs. 
The mass of the fur is soft ; but from beneath this 
downy covering there projects a multitude of long 
harsh, bristle-like hairs, which are particularly numer- 
ous along the back. The limbs are well developed, 
and terminate in plantigrade pentadactylousfeet, having 
the three middle toes longer than the other digits. 
The jaws are armed with forty-four teeth, which Pro- 
fessor Owen has divided into twelve incisives, four 
canines, sixteen false, and twelve true molars. They 
