The Loves of the Moles. 215 



the fore legs in a lateral position, have entirely deprived the 

 animal of the power of moving them under the belly. The hind 

 legs, however, are well adapted for this kind of motion. Whilst 

 digging, the mole rests on its trunk; but on a level, it is 

 supported by its hind feet, and drags itself forward by the nails 

 of its fore feet. 



The mole is also assisted in digging, by its snout and head, 

 the vertebral muscles of which are assisted by the highly deve- 

 loped panniculus carnosus, continued around the whole of the 

 body. Thus, when it is at work, the whole body is employed, 

 — the head, the snout, the feet, the hands, and even the thorax, 

 by which the animal plasters the walls of its gallery, and rids 

 away the produce of its labour. 



We have now to shew what the mole proposes by its work : It 

 labours to live and to produce. It always excavates galleries with 

 many branches; and, commencing each time at a different place, 

 it constantly returns to the main track. In a short time, the 

 earth is undermined in many directions. Some burrows join 

 together accidentally, and others are purposely made to com- 

 municate. The mole connects together many canals, enlarges 

 others, and forming common routes, concludes by arranging all 

 the perforations it has made, into a combined system, which, when 

 brought to perfection, is called the encampment of the mole. Its 

 bed usually occupies the centre. The nest in which the young 

 are brought up, is a separate, and, in some respects, a different 

 apartment. In order that these habitations may be sheltered from 

 the rains, their floor is formed almost on a level with the soil. It 

 is, consequently, much higher than the floor of the galleries, 

 which receive and absorb the rain water. 



" Under the guidance of Henri le Court," says M. St Hilaire, 

 " I made the following observations on the construction of the 

 bed of the mole : We at once arrived at the hillock of a mole 

 bed, which we set about opening. The mole feared nothing, and 

 indeed, had no need to fear, on account of its dwelling being 

 opened ; because its precautions were such, that it could not be 

 taken in this habitation. The place where the bed is formed is 

 chosen with care ; so that it cannot be trampled in nor crushed, 

 being constructed at the foot of a wall, a hedge, or a tree. 

 By a greater quantity of soil thrown up, the animal forms a 

 larger hillock. The whole is soon fashioned into a circular 

 gallery ; not content with which, the mole works along through 

 the earth, continuing its digging from within outwards, by the 

 action of its body and head. This gallery is marked i ^, in the 

 figure A" of the annexed plate VI.* Another circular gallery, 

 u u, below the former, is of greater size, and on a level with the 



* At a in the plate, the bed is seen in relation with the other galleries ; A" is a 

 magnified vertical section of the bed, x z representing the surface of the hillock ; 

 and A' is a magnified ground-plan. . . - 



