thanks for the suggestion - i've done some searching around and found this 16:1 analog cmos multiplexer from maxim:
http://datasheets.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MAX396-MAX397.pdf
do you think this might be suitable? it says it's suitable for routing audio signals, so i suppose it would also do for routing aquisition bursts from a capacitance sensor...? but i have no idea how these things work....
cheers,
jon