130 



the mole is not so obvious as the verdant or fungus-dotted rings that afterwards 

 were so clearly revealed to view. A clerical friend wh» had observed some rings 

 of sudden appearance in a piece of meadow-land recently enclosed for a burial 

 ground, had at first laughed at the idea of their being molar work, saying that 

 moles had never been observed near the place, but only a few weeks since had 

 written to him {Mr. Lees) to say that he found the mole was really there, and he 

 was now inclined to the molar theory. Of course the ring continued and the 

 funguses appeared after the mole had done his work and had gone elsewhere, 

 and he could not perhaps be found at that moment to exjilain matters to them ; 

 but if they perceived traces of his whereabouts in the same meadow, they 

 might be s\ire that his was the original work, though the ring, when afterwards 

 occupied by funguses, proceeded on other principles to continue and increase on 

 its own account. But many lines and great arcs in meadows formed by the 

 mole never get occiipied by funguses, but they were marked by a fresh growth 

 of coarse grass, arising where the former grass in the arc or ring had decayed, 

 and becoming less visible the succeeding year, they finally died out, and 

 even the ring occupied by the fungi did not exist an unlimited time, 

 frequently disappearing as ^denly as they had shown themselves, wMle new 

 rings of various sizes presented themselves to view every year. Mr. Lees 

 concluded an argumentative address by referring to the constant activity of 

 Nature in causing phenomena to dovetail into each other, and the operations 

 of a little animal as in this case, which might be thought mischievous, lead 

 to the production of a peculiar vegetation, which wanted a pabulum for the 

 sporules that floated in the atmosphere to imbibe. It was also remarkable that 

 tlie molar circle appeared to be constructed on the same principle as what we 

 all understood by " the family circle ;" and it would really appear that the words 

 of the old song, 



" Oh ! 'tis love, 'tis love, that nmhes the world go round," 



was as truly and more literally understood by the mole as by any member of 

 the human family (laughter and cheers). 



D. R. Harrison, Esq., said the moles had a very able advocate in Mr. 

 Lees, but he thought facts were against them. He (Mr. H.) had given a good 

 deal of attention to the subject of moles as affecting "Fairy Rings" this 

 summer and autumn ; and he observed, in two meadows adjacent to his 

 house where both abounded, that the moles generally preferred the lower 

 and moister situations, and the fimgi the dryer portions. The rings were 

 of various and sometimes complicated forms, as shown in the rough sketch 

 (sketch produced), but in most, if not in all cases, they indicated growth 

 from a centre, 



Mr. Lees remarked the sketch was in favour of his theory, as it indi- 

 cated moles' work. 



Mr. Harrison : In early summer the inner side of the ring was marked 

 by a lush growth of the stronger grasses, while the ring itself was crowded with 



