152 The Mole. [Sess. . 
You will observe that it would seem to be deformed, but that — 
is not so, for it assists the lateral movement of the paws 
enormously. The second reference is to the additional bone of — 
the paw, which increases the breadth of it. The upper- and — 
fore-arm bones are also exhibited for inspection. From the 
study of the internal parts it is seen that the whole concentra- ; 
tion of muscular strength is thrown into the front paws, the — 
two tendons of which are very large. To illustrate the re- — 
markable strength of the mole, we experimented with a young 
animal placed on the surface of a piece of ground into which I © 
could not push my walking-stick, so hard was it. Into this — 
in an incredibly short time the beast completely submerged 
itself. 
The mole’s abode is always under the soil, and its food con- 
sists of worms, grubs, &c., in search for which, and guided by 
the sense of smell, it makes runs in all directions and at various _ 
depths. In very cold weather it must make deep runs in 
search of worms, for then these recede into the depths of the 
soil. In the case of the young mole, the runs are very zig- 
zag and not at all deep. In fact, you can see the earth moving — 
as it burrows. The young therefore require experience before — 
they can make deep runs, and, as a consequence, in dry seasons 4 
young moles are often killed by drought and the heat of © 
the sun, accompanied by the want of food. Weather has a 
peculiar effect on the moles, in the direction of inciting them — 
to make fresh runs, the mole-catcher’s experience being that for — 
a few weeks hardly a fresh mole-hill is to be seen, whereas at 
other times new workings can be observed in every direction. — 
The mole-hills one sees are ejected soil made by means of © 
shafts. At the first sight the method of burrowing might be © 
thought, from the shape of the snout and the position of the — 
fore-limbs, to be after the manner of swimming, but this is not~ 
so. While so engaged, the animal rests on its left side, first 
gives three or four scratches with its right paw, then turning 
on to its right side it similarly uses the left paw and thus 
alternately propels itself. During summer the mole makes — 
few hillocks, but with the first touch of frost it makes deeper 
runs, and therefore more mole-hills. The more severe the 
weather the deeper the runs and the larger the hills. Possibly. 
this is caused in their search for worms. We may take it as 
