sminthopsis

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n. the scientific name for thegenus of Narrow-footed Pouched Mice, which, like theEnglish field-mice, are entirely terrestrial in their habits.See Pouched Mouse. In Homer's' Iliad,' Bk. I. ver. 39, Smintheus is an epithet of Apollo. It is explained as «mouse-killer,» from sminthos, a field-mouse, said to bea Cretan word.