MOLE 



mole ia much larger, and U usually 

 constructed in an open field, but 

 always near to a water supply. It 

 consist* of a central chamber a few 

 inches below the surface, often sur- 

 riini.|c(l by several galleries and 

 t mini-Is. The nest chamber is lined 

 wit 1 1 i^rass and leaves, and is appar- 

 ently only used once. One litter 

 is produced in the year, usually 

 numlxTing three or four young 

 ones, born in May or June. 



Feeding entirely on worms, 

 grubs, and insects, the mole is 

 harmless and useful to the agricul- 

 turist. But it does a certain 

 amount of damage in burrowing 

 among newly-sown seed, and mole 

 oasts are both unsightly and incon- 

 venient in fields and gardens, with 

 the result that in most districts 

 the mole is relentlessly trapped. 

 See Shrew-Mole. 



Mole (Lat. moles, mass). Jetty 

 projecting from the land into 

 water and serving as a pier, or as 

 a pier and breakwater combined. 

 It follows that the top surface 

 must be formed to accommodate 

 traffic, and that at least for a por- 

 tion of its length boats may moor 

 or berth alongside for loading or 

 discharging cargoes. 



The terms mole and pier are some- 

 times used indiscriminately, but 

 strictly speaking the former is of 

 solid construction. The construc- 

 tion of moles follows generally that 

 of certain types of breakwaters. 



A harbour may be formed by 

 constructing two moles, the outer 

 ends of which approach each 

 other, leaving a sufficient opening 

 for the safe passage of vessels in 

 and out ; in other cases a single 

 mole may serve the purpose. 

 Moles are sometimes constructed 

 with the storm side at a high level 

 and the lee side at a lower level, so 

 as to provide shelter and berthing 

 accommodation for vessels free 

 from the effect of breakers. Where 

 moles serve as piers the equipment 

 is similar. See Breakwater ; Har- 

 bour; Zeebrugge. 



Mole. River of England. It 

 rises in Balcombe forest, N. Sussex, 

 and flows 30 m. through Surrey to 

 the Thames near Molesey. It flows 

 through the Dorking Gap in the 

 N. Downs between Dorking and 

 Leatherhead, near which in dry 

 seasons the water disappears in 

 holes called the Swallows. > 



Mole, Louis MATHIEU, COMTE 

 (1781-1855). French statesman. 

 Born in Paris, Jan. 24, 1781, his 

 youth was spent with his mother 

 in exile, his father having lost his 

 life in the Terror. He returned to 

 France during the Empire and in 

 1806 became master of requests to 

 Napoleon. In 1809 he was made 

 a count, and four years later 



S4O9 



minister of justice. On the restora- 

 tion, Louis XVIII accepted hia 

 allegiance and confirmed his title, 

 appoint! ng 

 him minister of 

 marine in 1815. 

 With the ac- 

 cesai on of 

 Louis Philippe 

 he became 

 minister of 

 foreign affairs, 

 but finding his 



/, hands tied by 



Comte Mole, _ .. , , J 



French jtatesman Talleyrand, he 

 resigned. I n 



1836 he became premier, but, 

 quarrelling with Guizot and in 

 open hostility to Thiers, he was 

 unable to make headway against 

 the opposition, and resigned in 

 1839. He died Nov. 23, 1855. 



Mole, MATHIEU (1584-1656). 

 French politician. A son of 

 Edouard Mole, a lawyer who had 

 helped Henry IV to secure the 

 throne, he was educated at Orleans 

 and became a lawyer. Prominent 

 in public affairs during the time 

 of Richelieu, in 1641 he was made 



S'esident of the parlement in Paris, 

 e was its spokesman when the 

 members withstood Anne of Aus- 

 tria and Mazarin, and his conduct 

 in Aug., 1648, in defying an angry 

 mob, proved him a man of courage. 

 He acted as a peacemaker during 

 the Fronde, and died Jan. 3, 1656. 

 Mole left some Memoirs, published 

 1855-57. 



Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa vul- 

 garis). Orthopterous (straight- 

 winged) insect, common in Central 

 and S. Europe, less frequently 

 found in Great Britain. It is a 

 member of the cricket tribe, lives 

 underground, and preys upon 

 worms, insects, and vegetation. It 

 resembles the mole in habits, and 

 its broad, modified fore limbs form 

 excellent digging implements. The 

 insect is nearly 2 ins. long, yellowish- 

 brown in colour, and covered with 

 fine, downy hair. It occasionally 

 takes flights by night. See Cricket. 



Molecule. Smallest particle of 

 matter that can exist independent- 

 ly, whilst retaining the distinctive 

 properties of the original substance. 



The term molecule is the diminu- 

 tive of the Latin word moles, 

 a mass, and was first applied by 

 Avogadro in 1811 to distinguish 

 the smallest unit of matter with 

 which physical phenomena are 

 concerned, from the atom. It had 

 always been a theory of the philo- 

 sophers that there is a limit to the 

 divisibility of matter, and these 

 imaginary ultimate particles were 

 termed atoms. John Dalton (1766- 

 1844) was well acquainted with 

 this old physical theory and was 

 the first to apply it to chemistry. 



MOLECULE 



He discovered the law of multiple 

 proportions and found that the 

 atomic doctrine enabled it to be 

 easily understood. 



It has been shown, however, of 

 recent years that atoms are not 

 the irreducible minima which 

 Dalton supposed, but that by 

 electrical methods they can be 

 split up into what are called elec- 

 trons or corpuscles. 



This does not interfere with the 

 utility of the atomic theory as a 

 basic chemical law. Some mole- 

 cules contain only one atom, 

 others are composed of several 

 atoms. A molecule of sugar ia 

 thus more complicated than a 

 molecule of gold. Molecules are 

 not divisible by the mechanical or 

 physical changes of the substance, 

 but are readily broken up by chemi- 

 cal reactions or by an electric cur- 

 rent. When such a division occurs 

 there is always a readjustment. 



The molecular theory of matter 

 supposes that matter ia not a 

 continuous structure, but ia dis- 

 crete, i.e. made up of distinct 

 minute particles or molecules. The 

 theory was held long before experi- 

 mental evidence supplied proofs of 

 its reality, to account for the com- 

 pressibility and liquefaction of 

 gases. Molecules, it is assumed, are 

 in a state of perpetual motion, this 

 taking different forms according to 

 whether the matter is gaseous, 

 liquid, or solid. In gases the 

 molecules lead a more or less 

 independent existence, while in 

 solids the mobility is compara- 

 tively low. The molecules of a 

 liquid have more freedom than 

 those of a solid, as the liquid at 

 once assumes the shape of the 

 vessel in which it is placed. 

 Applied as an explanation of the 

 non-chemical and non-electrical 

 properties of gases in terms of the 

 molecular structure of matter, 

 this is known as the " kinetic 

 theory of gases." 



Lord Kelvin gave an idea of the 

 size of molecules by stating that if 

 a drop of water, the size of a pea, 

 were magnified up to the size of the 

 earth, each constituent molecule 

 being enlarged in the same propor- 

 tion, the molecules would appear 

 somewhat smaller than cricket 

 balls. The smallest particle of a 

 substance which can be separated 

 mechanically contains many 

 million molecules. By means of the 

 ultra-microscope it is possible to 

 obtain a good idea of what mole- 

 cules are like. In this form of 

 microscope a strong light is 

 focused upon the material being 

 examined, so that the light enters 

 at right angles to the direction in 

 which the observer ia looking 

 through the microscope. If, now, a 



