Forty-two Blarina brevicauda and 50 Sorex cinereus from various locations in Delaware County, Indiana, were examined for helminth parasites. From zero to eight parasites were found in 98 percent of the B. brevicauda. From zero to five parasites were found in 92 percent of the S. cinereus. Longistriata depressa, Porrocaecum americanum, P. encapsulatum, Capillaria blarinae, Protogynella sp., Hymenolepis anthocephalus, Panopistus pricei, Entosiphonus thompsoni, Brachylaima rhomboideus, Trichuris sp., Parastrongyloides winchesi, and a larval spirurid nematode, probably Physaloptera limbata, parasitized B. brevicauda. Larval nematodes, which may be Angiostrongylus michiganensis were abundant in the digestive and respiratory tracts. B. brevicauda also contained a minute, unidentifiable nematode from the small intestine. Tapeworms from four different B. brevicauda were in such poor condition as to make positive identification difficult. These were probably H. blarinae. H. parva; H. serrula; H. faculata; H, longi; two different unidentifiable hymenolepids; P. americanum; P. encapsulatum; A. michiganensis; Pseudophysaloptera formosana soricina; L. depressa; P, pricei; C. rauschi; P. winchesi; larval capillarid nematodes from the liver, probably C. hepatica; and three small unidentifiable nematodes parasitized S. cinereus.First reports include: P. winchesi in an American Sorex sp., Trichuris sp. from the intestine of B. brevicauda, P, pricei in S. cinereus, and larval capillarids, possibly C. hepatica, from the liver of S. cinereus.Possible relationships between the parasites' life cycles and the hosts' habitats were discussed.

In many terrestrial mammals, males are generally larger than females. Since shrews are the smallest living terrestrial mammals, specimens of the shrew Sorex cinereus cinereus from north central Minnesota were studied to determine if size differences between sexes also occurred at this extreme. Comparisons were based on measurements of external body lengths and individual lengths of upper quadrant locomotive muscles. External differences showed neither males nor females were consistently larger. The results from analysis of variance on individual muscle lengths showed very few significant differences between individual muscles. Those muscles that did show a significant difference were not grouped In a way that would suggest a significance due to a function specific to either sex. This study suggests that in these shrews, unlike many other living terrestial mammals, males are not larger than females.