25 mm. (.8 to i in.). This great width is produced by a flap of skin 

 on the lower edge, the rigidity of which is maintained by an extra 

 sickle-shaped bone. The palm is margined with stiff hairs. The nails 

 are stout, flattened, semicylindrical, and translucent enough to show 

 the bifid tips of the last finger bones within. The hind feet are of 

 normal size, five-toed, with nails that are flattened, hollowed below, 

 and rather slender. The tail is sc^uarish, especially at the base. 



The general impression given by the appearance of the arms and 

 shoulders of a mole stripped of its skin and supei^ficial fat is that of 

 a wonderfully compact and powerful digging machine, to which the 

 animal is strapped by comparatively slender muscular bands. The 

 development of the muscles of the breast and shoulders has kept pace 

 with the massiveness of the bones. The pectoral muscles are attached 

 to a keel-like projection of the sternum, and by their thickness re- 

 mind one of the breast of a bird. Certain muscles of the shoulder 

 are also greatly developed, and in some of them it seems that muscu- 

 lar ov^ergrowth has reached its limit. 



Fig. 2. Part op skei^eton op mole, showing 

 attachment op pore i.egs. 



The thick fur hides the eye and ear, but they may be located if 

 the hair is cut off close. The eye appears as a protuberance, about 

 the size of a pinhead, 20 to 25 mm. (.8 to i in.) from the end of the 

 snout. If the skin at that place is lifted up, the eye will be found 



