in the plane of the limbs of the jaw, or nearly at a right angle with the planes of the
incisors. The three posterior lower grinders of each side resemble the upper ones
reversed, but have no lobe corresponding to the interior one of the upper teeth. They
rise more above the sockets than the upper grinders do, and they have, as Dr.'Godman has
observed, a considerable resemblance to the grinders of a Bat. In old individuals, all the teeth
are worn down and have rounded crowns.
The Shrew-mole has a thick cylindrical body, like that of the Common Mole, without any
distinct neck. Its limbs are very short, being concealed by the skin of the body nearly down to
the wrist and ankle-joints. The fore-extremities are situated nearly under the auditory opening.
The moveable snout is almost linear, and projects about four lines and a half beyond the
incisors. It is naked towards its extremity, particularly above; below, it is thinly clothed
with hairs for about two-thirds of its length next the incisors. There is a conspicuous furrow,
extending nearly its whole length, on the upper surface; and, beneath, there is also a
furrow, reaching half its length from the incisors. Beyond the latter, the snout is transversely
wrinkled *beneath; and its small, flat, or truncated extremity is smooth and callous. The
small oblong nostrils open in an inclined space, immediately above this circular callous end.
The eyes are concealed by the fur, and scarcely to be found in the dried specimen *. The
auditory openings are covered by the fur, and there is no external ear. The tail is thickest
about one-third from its root, and tapers from thence to its tip, which is acute. It is whitish,
and is sparingly clothed with short hairs. Its vertebrae are equally four-sided. The forearm,
rather slender, and projecting only about three lines from the body, is, consequently^
concealed by the fur. The five fingers, extremely short, and united to the roots of the nails,
form, with the wrist, a large, nearly circular palm. The nails of all the fingers are large,
white, and have a semi-lanceolate form, with narrow, but rather obtuse points. They are.
nearly straight, convex above, and slightly hollowed beneath. The middle one is the largest,
the others gradually diminish on each side of it, and the exterior one is the smallest of all.
The palms are turned outwards and backwards, and the whole fore-foot bears a close resemblance
to that of the Common Mole. The hind-feet are more slender than the fore ones, and
the nails are one-half shorter, much more compressed, and sharper, and, in fact, nearly subulate.
They have a slight curvature laterally corresponding with the direction of the toes
inwards, and are somewhat arched, but cannot be said to be in any manner hooked. They
are excavated underneath. The fore and hind feet are thinly clothed above with adpressed,
pale hairs. The palms and soles are naked, but are bordered posteriorly with white hairs,
which curve a little over them.
The fu r has the same velvety appearance with that which clothes the Common Mole. It
has considerable lustre on the surface; and, in most lights, exhibits a brownish-black tint.
When blown aside, it shews a greyish-black colour, from the roots to near the tips. It has
the same colour over the whole body, but there is a slight tinge of chestnut-brown on the
forehead and about the base of the snout, and on the throat it is shorter and paler.
* Dr. Godman informs us, that the aperture in the shin is just big enough to admit an ordinary sized human hair.
Length of head and body
,, tail
„ fore-palm
Breadth of fore-palm
Length of middle fore-nail
Dimensions,
Inches. lines. Inches. Lines.
7 8 Length from wrist joint to tip of the middle nail 1 0
1 6 ,, heel to end of middle claw 0 10
0 6 Greatest breadth of the hind-foot . 0 3
0 7 Distance from auditory opening to the end
0 6 of the snout . . . 1 7
The animal described above inhabits the banks of the Columbia and the adjoining
coasts of the Pacific in considerable numbers, and is, doubtless, the mole
mentioned by Lewis and Clarke as resembling, in all respects, the mole of the
United States. Sir Alexander Mackenzie saw many animals, which he terms
moles,’’ on the banks of a small stream near the sources of the Columbia; but as
we are led to infer, from the way in which he speaks of them, that they were in
numbers above ground, I am inclined to think that they were sewellels, belonging
to the genus aplodontia, and not Shrew-moles*. I did not obtain recent specimens
of the Shrew-mole on the late expedition, and am unable to say what are
the exact limits of its range to the northward. I do not think, however, that it
can exist, at least on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, beyond the fiftieth
degree of latitude, because the earth-worm on which the Scalops, like the Common
Mole, principally feeds, is unknown in the Hudson’s Bay countries. On the
milder Pacific shore, it may, perhaps, reach a somewhat higher latitude. There
are two specimens of the Shrew-mole from the Columbia preserved in the Museum
of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and Mr. David Douglas has kindly furnished me
with others which he obtained in the same quarter. The Columbia animal seems
to be of larger dimensions, and has a longer tail than the Shrew-moles of the
United States: but I have not detected any other peculiarities by which it might
be characterised as a distinct species. Authors, probably from their specimens
being of different ages, have varied considerably in their descriptions of the
dentition of the Scalops, and several of them have mentioned edentate spaces
between the incisors and grinders. In the adult animal, from which my description
was taken, no such spaces exist. In a large and apparently very old
individual, the incisors, and all the small grinders, are so worn and rounded, as to
appear like a row of small pearls set in the jaw. Baron Cuvier informs us, that
the animals of the genus Scalops unite to the teeth of the Desmans {mygale);
and the simply pointed muzzle of the Shrews, large hands, armed with strong
nails, fitted for digging into the earth, and entirely similar to those of the Moles.
It is evident, from my description of the teeth of the Columbia Shrew-mole, that
* Mackenzie’s Voyage to the Pacific, &c. p. 314.