MOLA 



MOLE 



253 



Mola. a seaport of Italy, on the Adriatic, 12 

 miles l.y rail SE. of Bari. Pop. 12,070. 



Mola di Gacta. See FORMIA. 



Molasses. See SUGAR. 



Mold, a town of Flintshire, on the Alyn, in a 

 rich mineral district, 14 miles by rail W. by S. of 

 Chester. Its fine loth-century church, rich in 

 stained glass, contains the grave of the painter 

 Wilson. The former county prison, recently built 

 ftt a cost of 25,000, was sold in 1880 for 3500 

 to expelled French Jesuits, who renamed it St 

 Germanns' House, in memory of the ' Alleluia 

 Victory' hard by (see GERMA'NI'S). With Flint, 

 &c., Mold returns one member. Pop. (1851 ) 3432 ; 

 (1881)4320; (1891)4457. 



Moldail (Bohemian Vltava), the chief river of 

 Bohemia, and an important tributary of the Elbe, 

 rises in the Bohmerwald Mountains, on the south- 

 west frontier, at an elevation of 3870 feet above 

 sea-level, and flows south-east to Holienfurt, where 

 it bends northward, and pursues that direction to 

 its confluence with the Ell>e opposite Melnik, after 

 a course of 278 miles. Its course to the point of 

 confluence is longer than that of the Elbe, and the 

 navigation of that river is greatly facilitated by 

 the bodv of water which it contributes. It receives 

 on the "left the Wotawa and the Beraun, and on 

 the right the Lnschnitz and the Sazawa. The chief 

 towns on its banks are Budweis and Prague. It 

 becomes navigable from Budweis. 



Moldavia, formerly a principality, now form- 

 ing tlie northern division of the kingdom of Kou- 

 inania (q.v.). 



Mole (Talpa), a genus of quadrupeds of the 

 order Insectivora and family Talpidte. In structure 

 and habits all the species, seven in number, essen- 

 tially resemble the Common Mole ( T. ettrojxea). 

 This animal is found in the southern and central 

 parts of Europe, extending northwards as far as to 

 the shores of the Baltic and throughout Denmark, 

 aUi> in central Asia as far as to the confines of 

 China. In Britain it is very plentiful, but it is 

 not found in Ireland, nor in the western islands of 

 Scotland, except in Mull. It possesses a plump, 

 nearly cylindrical body, covered with a velvet-like 

 coat of short soft fur of a black or blackish-brown 

 colour inserted perpendicularly to the skin, very 

 short stout limbs with naked llesh-coloured feet, 

 a short scaly tail furnished with long still' hairs, 

 and a pointed muzzle. The total length is about 



Fig. 1. Common Mole (Talpa europcta). 



6 inches, of which the tail measures about half an 

 inch. It has no external ears, and its eyes are so 

 minute as to be easily overlooked. By its bodily 

 structure it is so eminently fitted for underground 

 progression that it might almost be said to swim 

 through the soft earth. Its whole skull is like a 

 wedge, and its nose is a lioriT fastened to the sharp 

 end of the wedge. The nostrils are elastic and 

 flexible tubes of cartilage, strengthened by a little 



bone, and moved by special muscles. The fore- 

 limb is enclosed in the skin of the body up to the 

 wrist. The fore-feet are extremely broad and 

 strong, the palm is turned outwards and back- 

 wards ; tlie last phalanges are much longer than 

 the others, are bifurcated, and have strong claws 

 firmly attached to them. The wrist is composed 

 of short and compact bones, and from its inner side 

 there springs a long sickle-shaped bone which runs 

 forward towards the first digit, strengthening the 

 hand and increasing its breadth. The elbow process 

 is long, thus giving greater leverage to the arm than 

 usual. The bone of the upper arm is short, broad, 



Fig. 2. Shoulder Girdle and Fore-limbs of the Common 

 Mole: 



, shoulder-blade, or scapula ; c, collar-bone, or clavicle ; m, 

 manubrium ; h f humcrus ; w, ulna ; r, radius ; /, falciform or 

 sickle-shaped bone of the wrist : i to v, the digits. 



flattened at both extremities, and contracted in the 

 middle, and has upon it very prominent ridges for 

 the attachment of the muscles moving the shoulder- 

 joint. These ridges give it a most peculiar appear- 

 ance, different from anything found among mam- 

 mals. The shoulder-blade has the form of a long 

 stout triangular rod. The breast-bone has its fore- 

 part (manubrium) longer than the body and keeled 

 below and expanded. The collar-bone is short, 

 almost cuboid, and is placed at some considerable 

 distance in front of the ribs, thus allowing the fore- 

 limb to be brought very close to the head in bur- 

 rowing. The hind-limbs are more slender, and are 

 used only for purposes of progression. The incisor 

 teeth are small and sharp, the upper canine is long 

 and possesses a double fang. There are three 

 nearly equal conical premolars and a fourth much 

 larger: the true molars are broad, with many sharp 

 conical projections. Tlie dentition is represented 

 by the formula i. | c. | p. J m. 3 = 44. The senses of 

 hearing, taste, and smell are very strongly devel- 

 oped. The eye is extremely small, with a nearly 

 globular lens and a minute optic nerve, and is at 

 least sensitive to light. The mole is an exceedingly 

 voracious animal ; his appetite is a sort of frenzy 

 a 'rage of hunger.' Vegetable substances form no 

 part of his diet. Earthworms, the larva 1 , of various 

 insects, mice, small birds, lizards, frogs, even 

 weaker individuals of his own species, all fall 

 victims to his ravages. His practice is to throw 

 himself, in a state of violent excitement as if 

 maddened with rage, on his prey, and immediately, 

 if it is a bird or a quadruped he has captured, to 

 tear open its alxlomen and satiate himself with 

 blood. His favourite food is earthworms, and in 

 quest of them, and guided chiefly by the sense of 

 smell, he works his way underground, throwing up 

 the earth in mole-hills ; more rarely in fine summer 

 nights he seeks for them on the surface of the 

 ground, where he is himself in turn likely to be 



