22 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS-ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
The first four measurements of No. 626, and all of 1674, were taken from the specimen 
before skinning. 
I refer, with some hesitation, to this species, a specimen from Fort Ripley. The tail is muti¬ 
lated, and its otherwise indifferent state of preservation increases the uncertainty. It has, 
moreover, a stronger tinge of rufous beneath. 
This species is readily distinguished from its congeners ; as, from S. forsteri, by its full fur, 
thick and hairy tail, large feet, &c.; from S. richardsonii, by having unusually large and stout 
feet; a longer tail, different color, smaller size, &c. 
List of specimens. 
Catalogue 
number. 
Corresponding 
No. of skull. 
Sex & 
age. 
Locality. 
Whence obtained. 
Nature of specimen. 
626 
1674 
638 
1777 
Pembina, Minnesota_... 
Charles Cavileer._ 
Skin from alcohol. 
In alcohol. 
Skin from alcohol. 
1789 
3 
Fort Ripley, Minnesota_ 
Dr. J. F. Head, U. S. A. 
SOREX FORSTERI, Rich. 
Sorex forsteri, Rich. Zool. Jour. Ill Jan.-Apr. 1828, 516.—In. P. B. A. I. 1829, 6 
Bachman, J. A. N. S. Phila. VII, 1837 386; pi. xxiv, f. 6. 
Dekay, N. Y. Zool. I, 1842, 20 ; pi. xxi, f. 3. 
Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quod. Ill, 1854, 310. (Copied from Bachman.) 
Corsira forsteri, Gray, Pr. Zool. Soc. Lond. V, 1837, 124. 
Sp. Ch. —Ears rather small, about half as large as in S. trowbridgii; as long as the adjacent fur, longest hairs measuring about 0.25 
of an inch. Feet rather small ; the anterior contained about one and two-third times in the hinder. Tail shorter than the body, 
about two-thirds as long as head and body together ; nearly naked towards the tip. Premolars tiled ; third tooth above larger 
than the fourth. Anterior upper incisor, with small sharp internal subterminal lobe ; the opposite in contact. 
Color above, smoky brown or plumbeous gray, slightly hoary ; beneath, pale grayish ash, decidedly lighter than the back 
Head and body, 2 J inches ; tail, If inches. Hind foot, 0.5 of an inch. 
The snout is rather slender, much pointed, with a naked and bilobed muzzle. The ears are 
moderately large and readily distinguishable in the fur, although not projecting beyond it, in 
fact barely equalling this in length. They are suborbicular ; their edges entire, (not split,) 
indexed below; sparsely coated with furry hairs on both surfaces, densest near the margin. 
The fifth claw in the hind foot scarcely reaches the base of the fourth, and the first claw falls 
short of the base of the fifth. The sole appears entirely naked from the heel. The forefeet are 
about two-thirds of the length of the hinder. There is little or no tendency to a fringe to the feet 
or their digits ; their upper surfaces are well covered with short hairs. The tail is nearly two- 
thirds the length of the head and body ; it is cylindrical, flattened at tip, (in dried specimens,) 
and encirled by numerous narrow annuli. The hairs in the tail are, for the most part, very 
short, scarcely extending more than the width of a single annulus, against which they are 
closely pressed. The extreme tip of the tail, where flattened, is, however, entirely naked, and 
has somewhat the appearance of possessing tactile sensibility. There is a narrow linear space 
