5 1 6 ^ Hi ft or y of ANIMALS. 
the upper part of the extremity of the head is black, the lower part is paler • the 
crown of the head is yellowifti, and the neck and (houlders are black ■ the body is 
brown but it is variegated with a great many fpots of black ; thefe are /mail of dif¬ 
ferent figures, and are equally difpofed over every part, quite to the tail, whi’ch is not 
more than half an inch in length, and is hairy and yellowifh, with an admixture of 
black. 
The head is of an acuminated figure, large at the bafe, and very fharp at the point * 
there are a great number of rigid hairs about the mouth j thefe form a kind of whilkers 
and twelve of them, fix on each fide, are longer than the reft. 
The mouth is fmall, and the upper lip is divided, as in the fquirrel, and from this 
there ftand forth two large and fomewhat crooked teeth, and on the lower jaw there 
ftand two others to anfwer them : the grinders ftand at a confiderable diftance from 
thelei they are three, the anterior of them the broadeft: the tongue is large and fo 
long, that it reaches to the roots of the fore-teeth. & * 
The eyes are fmall and black ; the ears are obtufe, and are laid backwards on the 
neck : the legs are very fmall, and the anterior pair are very fhort; the feet are hairy 
and each is armed with five fharp, ftrong, and hooked claws: the hinder legs are 
fhort too, but they are fomewhat longer than the others: the belly is white. 
It is very fingular, that a creature of a tolerably bulky body, and with fuch very 
fhort legs, fhould be able to run fwiftly, yet there are few creatures more nimble. 
It is frequent in Norway, and fome other of the northern parts of Europe; it breeds 
in the mountainous places, but at times comes down into the low country, where the 
vaft: troops of it deftroy all the vegetable produce, and, often dying afterwards upon the 
place, leave a ftench, which occafions peftilential fevers. Olaus Magnus firft men¬ 
tioned this creature in his hiftory of the northern nations, and from him all the fuc- 
ceeding authors borrowed what they have faid about it. Scheffer calls it Mus monta- 
nus; others, Leminus, Mus Norwegicus; the Swedes, Fialmus and Soblemus; the 
Laplanders, Lammie. 
Mus cauda brevi , dorfo nigro-fufco , ventre albo . 
The Jhort-tailed Mus> with a brownijh-black back , and white belly . 
This is fomewhat larger than the common moufe, and it’s body is longer, in pro¬ 
portion to the thicknefs : the head is remarkably large, and the fnout fhort and ob¬ 
tufe : the eyes are fmall, and not prominent, as in many kinds; the ears are fhort, 
broad, of a€gure approaching to round, and they are in a manner buried in the fur* 
which is longer than in the common moufe. 
The tail is very fhort, and is covered with fcattered hairs, more numerous than in 
the common rat, but not at all thick fet: the legs are very fhort, and the toes {len¬ 
der ; the colour is dufkier than in the common moufe, and, when clofely examined, 
has fome refemblance to that of the rat, but it is darker, and has a tinge of yellow- 
ifh : the belly is whitifh, with an admixture of a lead colour grey. 
This is frequent with us under hedges, and in paftures ; and it is fingular that it has 
efcaped the notice of fo many of the writers on thefe fubjedts. Ray defcribes it un¬ 
der the name of Mus agreftis capite grandi, cauda brevi; and Agricola feems to have 
meant it, when he talks of a wild moufe with a large head and fhort tail; others are 
fileot about it. 
Mus, 
