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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The cloister-life of the middle ages tended 

 to the increase of the warriors by drawing 

 gentle spirits and those skilled in the handi- 

 crafts to the convents, and leaving it to the 

 knights and their retinues to do the marry- 

 ing and the bringing up of posterity. Now 

 the military establishments of the European 

 empires are working in the opposite direc- 

 tion. They tend to draw the brave and the 

 turbulent from married life, and to leave 

 the raising of families to the industrious 

 and those who shun the field of battle. The 

 effect of the system on the population of 

 France after the Napoleonic wars was visi- 

 ble, and has been much remarked upon. 

 Hence it is probable that the warlike na- 

 tions are destined to decline, and peaceful 

 ones, like Great Britain and the United 

 States, to prevail, and thus will come to 

 pass the prediction in the Sermon on the 

 Mount, that the meek shall inherit the earth. 



The Mole a Fri?nil to Man. A writer in 

 " Land and Water " pleads for the mole as 

 a much-abused animal which really does 

 more good than harm, fulfilling its mission 

 " of ventilating the soil with many-branched 

 tunnels, and of converting insects, worms, 

 etc., into fertile mold. . . . The ingenuity 

 which the mole exhibits in the formation of 

 his covered ways might stimulate perhaps 

 has done so agriculturists to improve their 

 drainage systems ; the comminuted earth 

 and other material which he leaves behind 

 him mijrht also instigate them to produce 

 the same results on a scale commensurate 

 with their requirements. . . . We cease to 

 be surprised at the work executed by the 

 mole when we examine its structure. The 

 fore-paws, short and very sturdy, are moved 

 by immense muscles, and are supported 

 by a clavicle of great strength ; the broad 

 palms arc turned outward, the better to 

 form scoops for throwing earth, gravel, soil, 

 etc., behind while the animal is burrowing. 

 The ' fingers ' are small, so much so, in fact, 

 as easily to be overlooked, but each is ter- 

 minated by a nail, long, flat, sharp-edged, 

 and very strong, eminently calculated as a 

 tool for cutting through the soil. The snout, 

 which we have noticed as furnished with a 

 terminal bone, a<si<ts in these operations, 

 and the neck is supplied with muscles of 

 extraordinary vigor." But the hinder part 



of the animal is undeveloped and feeble, 

 and it is said that the creature can progress 

 more swiftly in the ground than on it. Its 

 sense of hearing is very acute, but it has no 

 external ears, and its eyes are barely visi- 

 ble. Its hair is very fine and stands straight 

 out, so that, whichever way the animal goes, 

 it is not " against the grain." The nest or 

 home in which the mole resides, and in 

 which the young are produced, is worthy of 

 notice. A high arched roof is made by the 

 removal of a quantity of earth ; here and 

 there pillars portions of the solid soil 

 are allowed to remain as supports. The 

 earth, of which the nest is composed, is 

 pressed and beaten, and with it are mingled 

 grass-stalks and roots to give it a greater 

 consistency, and by this means to make it 

 sufficiently compact to throw off heavy rams. 

 Within the dome is erected a small mound, 

 littered with soft grass and leaves. This is 

 the bed, and from its elevated position is 

 secure from whatever drainage may casually 

 make its way below. From this mound 

 lead off, in various directions, the passages 

 excavated by the animals, and these often 

 extend as far as thirty or forty feet from 

 the central hall." The small mounds dot- 

 ted over the scene of the animal's labors 

 are merely the soil thrown up while in 

 search of worms, etc., and have nothing in 

 them specially worthy of examination. The 

 mole usually seeks to be near the water, or 

 to have access to it. 



Obesity. Obesity, fays the " Lancet," 

 may be promoted or relieved, to a limited 

 extent, by the selection of diet and regi- 

 men, but it is fundamentally dependent on 

 some inherent state of being or habit of 

 life. For its safe and effectual treatment, 

 provided the case be not of so long standing 

 as to be beyond all remedy, this state must 

 first be understood and regulated. What- 

 ever interferes with oxidation, or with the 

 due metamorphosis of digested food within 

 the tissues, is apt to lead to its storage in 

 the form of fat. It is, therefore, necessary 

 for health that consumption should be lim- 

 ited as nearly as may be to what is neces- 

 sary for sustenance, and that discharge of 

 waste and tissue demand should be at the 

 same time encouraged by moderate bodily 

 exercise. The limitation of food should. 



