222 THE UNIVERSE. 



This animal devours its prey with such voracity that when 

 this is of some size, as a rat or bird for instance, the mole 

 penetrates in some sort into the entrails of it, the head and 

 fore-feet being so thrust in that one cannot see them. The 

 carnivorous animal bores its victim as if it were boring; the 

 earth. 



The mole never gnaws roots ; I have opened hundreds 

 without finding one in their stomachs, which, on the con- 

 trary, were always gorged with grubs of the May-bug and 

 earth-worms. This insect-eater is therefore one of our best 

 friends ; this is well known where agriculture is intrusted 

 to experienced hands. In such places, and in some vine- 

 yards devastated by the above-mentioned grubs, men buy 

 moles in order to consign to them the destruction of these 

 formidable enemies. 1 



1 All those authors who have recently written upon agriculture, or have inter- 

 ested themselves about the mole, such as Ratzebunj, Johjneaux, and De la Blan- 

 chere, consider this animal as of great service to farm husbandry. Ratzeburg, 

 Hylophthires ; Joigneaux, Le Livre de la Ferme, 1866; De la Blanchere, Les 

 Trots Regnes de la Nature, 1866 ; " La Taupe," p. 134. Many more errors than 

 we have mentioned have been circulated about the mole. Aristotle and all those 

 who copied from him, not being able to perceive its eyes, believed that it cannot 

 see. Its eyes, deeply hidden by hairs, are, it is true, unsuited for good vision, 

 but it is evident that the mole can see with them. Le Court, the chief of the 

 mole-catchers in France, even says that he has seen it swim across rivers, guided 

 only by its sight. 



The existence of the mole is a series of paradoxes. The cleanliness of its fur, 

 for instance, is wonderful ; though it is always buried in the earth or the mud 

 which invades its subterranean dwelling, yet, when we withdraw it, its coat is 

 beautifully fresh, unsoiled with spot or dust. This silky robe has often tempted 

 those in search of new frivolities. Some ladies of the court of Louis XV., having 

 a fancy to match it with the patches, rouge, and paint with which they covered 

 their faces, conceived the whim of having eyebrows of it; whilst the courtiers of 

 this prince collected masses of moleskin to have their dresses made of them. But 



