Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/15

 SHOT SHOT. See LEAD, vol. x., p. 262. SHOVELLER. See DUCK, vol. vi., p. 289. SHREVEPORT, a city and the capital of Cad- do parish, Louisiana, in the N. W. corner of the state, on the W. bank of Bed river, at the head of low-water navigation, 330 m. above its mouth according to Humphreys and Abbot, or 500 m. by local authorities ; pop. in 1870, 4,607, of whom 2,168 were colored. It has since been enlarged, and the population in 1875 was locally estimated at 12,000. It con- tains many handsome residences and substan- tial business structures, is lighted with gas, and has a good fire department and several miles of street railroad. The principal public build- ings are the new market, costing $50,000; the Presbyterian church, costing $35,000 ; and the synagogue, a fine specimen of architecture. The surrounding country is very productive, and the climate is mild and generally healthful. Shreveport is the E. terminus of the Texas and Pacific railroad, which affords an all-rail route to St. Louis ma Marshall, Tex. Steamers run regularly to New Orleans and intermediate points on the Red and Mississippi rivers. The trade is extensive and increasing, the value of shipments amounting to about $7,500,000 a year, and the sales of merchandise to about $7,000,000. The shipments of cotton average 100,000 bales annually, including about 20,000 bales from the upper Eed river reshipped at this point. The transactions in hides, wool, and tallow are also considerable. The prin- cipal manufactories are two of carriages, one each of cotton gins, cotton-seed oil, sash and blinds, and spokes and hubs, three founderies and machine shops, a planing mill, two saw mills, and three breweries. There are three private banks, two public schools (one for white and one for colored children), nine pri- vate and denominational schools and acade- mies, two daily and weekly newspapers, and eleven churches (Baptist, Episcopal, Jewish, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic), of which five are for colored people. Shreve- port was incorporated in 1839. SHREW, or Shrew Mouse, the common name of the insectivorous mammals of the family so- ricidce, characterized by a general rat-like or mouse-like appearance, elongated and pointed muzzle, and soft fur. The distinct auricle of the ears, and the normal size of the anterior feet, not usually employed in digging, dis- tinguish them from the moles. The skull is long and narrow, compressed at the orbits, malar bone and zygomatic arch wanting ; the ribs are 12 to 14 pairs, 6 to 8 vertebrae without ribs, 3 to 5 sacral, 14 to 28 caudal; tibia and fibula united, clavicles thin, and pubic arch closed; stomach simple; caecum in some ab- sent, in others very large ; on the sides of the body, nearest the anterior limbs, and in some at the base of the tail, is a series of glands which secrete a strong musky fluid. The teeth vary from 28 to 32 ; there are two very large incisors in each jaw, nearly horizontal in the SHREW 7 lower and much curved in the upper ; canines absent ; premolars f if to f if-, molars fcf ; the posterior molars are many-pointed, and the anterior ones conical ; the precise homologies of the cheek teeth have been the subject of much controversy. The snout ends in a naked muffle with the nostrils pierced on the sides ; eyes very small, ears distinct, and feet nearly plantigrade and usually naked beneath ; mam- mae six to ten ; feet five-toed, each with a claw. Their food consists of insects, worms, and mol- lusks, though they sometimes destroy small vertebrates and devour each other; they are nocturnal, more or less aquatic, do not hiber- nate, and the young are born blind and naked ; most of the species live on the surface of the ground, and a few in burrows. They are spread over the northern hemisphere, some- times going very far north, and the smaller species enduring severe cold. The subfamily soricinm is the only one represented in North America ; other subfamilies are found in south and central Africa, Asia, the East Indies, and Europe; none as yet have been detected in South America. Of the American genera, neosorex (Baird) has rather short ears, partly furred on both surfaces ; teeth 32 ; tail longer than body and head, and hairs of equal length except a tuft at the tip ; feet very large, with a fringe of ciliated hairs ; muzzle very slender. In the genus sorex (Linn.), which contains a great part of the species of the new and old worlds, the ears are large and valvular, the tail about as long as the body, and the feet moderate and not fringed; it is divided into two sections, one with 32 and the other with 30 teeth, most of the American species belonging in the former. Prof. Baird describes 1 2 species in vol. viii. of the Pacific railroad reports, va- rying in length from 3 to 4-J in., of which the tail is about one half, ranging from blackish and brownish to grayish above and lighter to whitish below. The S. personatus (Geoffr.) is the least of the American shrews, and among Mole Shrew (Bkrina talpoides). the smallest of the quadrupeds of this country, being not quite 3 in. long; it belongs in the S. Atlantic states. Most of the species belong on the Pacific coast or in the N. W. territories.