218 Tlie Laves of the Mold. 



" In the nest we found a bed, made of stalks of wheat, which 

 at this season only consists of tufts of lanceolate leaves. We 

 were curious to count the number of stalks, Le Court for the 

 purpose of remarking the immense injury which the mole causes 

 to agriculture, and myself for the purpose of contemplating the 

 results and extent of the labour and industry of an enemy so 

 small, and apparently so feeble. We counted no less than 402 

 stalks. Le Court suggested, that, from the similar size and 

 freshness of these plants, they must have been destroyed in a 

 very few days.* 



" The labours of the mole are infinitely varied. Le Court treats 

 of them under different titles, — taupiniere d' hesitation ; d' entree 

 d! heritage ; d' entree de culture; du cantonnement i du repos ; 

 de passage i de gite ; de nid ; des males. It is impossible for ua 

 to enter into all these details, which are amply dilated upon in 

 the work published by Cadet-de-Vaux." 



Such is the interesting narrative of M. St Hilaire, in which the 

 purposes of description have required a greater shew of system 

 and regularity, than may be expected in our observations of 

 the habits of these singular animals. The above is, besides, the 

 result of long and patient watching on the part of the mole- 

 catcher, whose avocations rendered indispensable the most 

 minute attention to the manners of this animal. The subject is, 

 however, open to the investigation of any person who lives in the 

 country, and might be advantageously pursued at this season of 

 the year. 



Note, — It must be kept in mind, in the examination of the 

 plate, that an exact relation has not been preserved between 

 the length of the subterranean roads and the width of the lines 

 which indicate the canals and the hillocks. The relative dimen- 

 sions may, however, be judged of from the following measures : 

 The line from the point C, passing through /i, y, k, /, /», 8^c. to 

 the point e, was 24 metres, (about 26 yards,) long ; and the line 

 passing from the nest 6, and through ^, to the bed «, was 15 

 metres, (about 16 yards,) long. 



• The amiable Ettrick Shepherd has, however, attempted to prove, m the 

 Quarterly Agricultural Journal, that the mole, instead of being a curse, is a 

 bfessing to the agriculturist. We would, nevertheless, deprecate a superabuudance 

 of such blessings, — of which alone, indeed, does the farmer complain ; but hyperbole 

 is the poet's prerogative. —Ed. 



