56o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



with no tools except his hands, without a chance of seeing daylight 

 until lie reached it on the I^ew York side, and with the added condi- 

 tions that all the excavated earth should be carried out at the east- 

 ern opening of the tunnel, and finally that he should obliterate all 

 marks of his work and, as he retreated into his tunnel, pack the 

 exit shaft above him so tightly and so deftly that it is impossible 

 to trace its course! 



How our little fur-coated engineer solves all these problems is 

 as yet a mystery. We only know that he does it. He has a steam 

 engine in his shoulders and shovels for hands, but his exact methods 

 of using them is as yet largely a matter of conjecture. Only two 

 plans of operation would seem to be possible. One would be 

 for the " salamander " to first carry the excavated earth all to 

 the rear into some portion of his already finished tunnel, and 

 finally, when the outward exit is completed, to carry it back 

 again and deposit it on the surface. This, of course, involves 

 a double transfer of all the earth removed. It is more likely 

 that the " salamander " first forces a narrow passageway along 

 the line of his future tunnel in a way similar to that pursued 

 by the mole. The latter animal has the advantage of working 

 near the surface, and the earth always yields along the line of least 

 resistance, which of course is upward. Four or five feet down 

 there is no such line, and the amount of force required to push the 

 ground aside must be something enormous. When the " salaman- 

 der " comes to the upper air the work of excavation and enlarge- 

 ment begins. He then piles upon the surface all the earth that he 

 can not use in obliterating his upward passageway. As the writer 

 has frequently observed fresh sand mounds hundreds of feet from 

 any others, he is inclined to believe that this is the real method 

 pursued. 



The exceeding care which the " salamander " takes to leave no 

 opening into his subterranean home arises, no doubt, from his hor- 

 ror of snakes. In this respect no woman can surpass him. His 

 antipathies to reptiles are probably the accumulated embodiment of 

 hundreds of centuries of ancestral experience. He is aware that 

 these hereditary enemies of his race are of a very investigating turn 

 of mind, and put in a good deal of spare time when awake in crawl- 

 ing into and exploring any tempting hole they may discover. And 

 so Mr. Geomys, like the sensible fellow that he is, not only takes 

 good care to shut and lock his front gate every time he is compelled 

 to go through it, but he blocks up the whole passageway and does 

 his best to convince trespassers that it is all a mistake to suppose 

 that there ever has been any roadway leading to his underground 

 home. 



