1009 



TALIPAT. 



TALPID/E. 



1010 



and bad not advanced far from the shore when he came to a mound 

 of sand and shells, with a slight mixture of black soil, the base resting 

 on a sandy beach, only a few feet above high-water mark ; it was 

 enveloped in the large yellow-blossomed Hibiscus, was of a conical 

 form, twenty feet in circumference at the base, and about five feet 

 high. On asking the native what it was, he replied ' Oregoorgii 

 Kambal ' (Jungle- Fowl's house or nest). Sir. Gilbert scrambled up 

 the side of it, and found a young bird in a hole about two feet deep ; 

 the nestling, apparently only a few days old, was lying on a few dry 

 withered leaves. 



Mr. Gilbert afterwards secured several eggs from the nests. On one 

 occasion, after an hour's excessive labour, Sir. Gilbert obtained an egg 

 from the depth of about five feet. It was in a perpendicular position. 

 The holes in this mound (which was 15 feet high and 60 feet in cir- 

 cumference at the base, and, like the majority of those that he had 

 seen, so enveloped in thickly-foliaged trees as to preclude the possi- 

 bility of the sun's rays reaching any part of it) commenced at the outer 

 edge of the summit, and ran down obliquely towards the centre : 

 their direction, therefore, Mr. Gilbert obsarves, is not uniform. The 

 nioiznd was quite warm to the hands. 



How the young effect their escape does not appear : some natives 

 tgld Mr. Gilbert that the nestlings effected their escape unaided ; but 

 others said that the old birds, at the proper time, scratched down and 

 released them. The natives say that only a single pair of birds are 

 ever found at a mound at a time. 



and working of the muzzle. The part which extends from the 

 internal side of the jaws terminates in three points, the one in the 



Mound-Railing Megapode (Ucjapodiui tumulus), with nest in the distance. 

 (Gould.) 



TALIPAT-, or TALIPOT-PALM. [CORYPHA.] 



TALLIEHA. [CORYPHA.] 



TALLOW, a name applied to various forms of solid oils and fat. 

 [FAT ; ADIPOSE TISSUE ; OIL.] 



TALLOW, MINERAL or MOUNTAIN. [HATCHETINE.] 



TALLOW-TREE. [STILLINOIA.] 



TALPA. [TALPIDA] 



TALPASO'REX. [SORF.CID*.] 



TA'LPID^E, a family of Animals belonging to the order Iwectivora, 

 and including the Moles. 



The genus Talpa of Linnaeus, as it stands in the 12th edition of 

 the ' Systema Naturae,' between the genera Diddphia and Sorex, 

 comprises two species only, Talpa uropaa, the Common Mole, and 

 T. Alialica. [CllBYSocULOBls.] 



Cuvier places the Moles, confining them to the genus Talpa, between 

 Sore* [SORECID.K] and ('undijlu.ro.. 



Mr. Swainson places the genus Talpa between C/tryiochloris and 

 Cenlcnet. 



Bkull of Mole. 



middle larger and more distant from the external edge than the other 

 two. The very short arm attached by means of a loug bladebone, 

 and sustained by a vigorous clavicle, carries an extremely wide hand, 

 the palm of which is always turned outwards or backwards. No known 

 living form has the compressed phalangeal bones seen in Glyptodon 

 except the Mole. [GLYPTODON.] The second phalanx of the anterior 

 digits or fingers of the Mole is the only known living analogue of the 

 similar bone in the hind foot of Glyptodon. The sternum, like that 

 of the Birds and Bats, has an elevation or crest affording room for 

 the large pectoral muscles. The pelvis and hinder extremities are 

 comparatively feeble. The bones of the pubis are not joined. 



This bony framework is set in motion by very powerful muscles. 

 Those of the anterior extremities, the chest, and the neck are most 

 vigorous, and in the cervical ligament a peculiar bone ie even formed. 

 The wide hand, which is the great instrument of action, and performs 

 the offices of a pickaxe and shovel, is sharp-edged on its lower margin, 

 and, when clothed with the integuments, the fingers are hardly 

 distinguishable, but the terminating claws project long, strong, flat, and 

 trenchant. 



The muzzle of the Mole is evidently a delicate organ of touch, and 

 that sense is considerably developed in the large and broad hands 

 and feet. Neither is the tail without a considerable share of sensa- 

 tion, to give notice to the animal of the approach of any attack from 

 behind. The gustatory and olfactory nerves, especially the latter, 

 appear to be very sensitive. 



The eye is so hidden in the fur, that its very existence was for a 

 long time denied. It appears to ba designed for operating only as a 

 warning to the animal on its emerging into the light; and indeed 

 more acute vision would only have been an incumbrance. 



The sense of hearing is very highly developed, and the tympanum 

 very large, though there is no external ear, or rather, no projecting 

 concha. 



There is nothing that calls for any particular notice in the digestive 

 system of the Mole. The alimentary canal is short, simple, without 

 a caecum. The voracity of the Mole corresponds with the activity 

 and rapidity of its digestive powers. An interesting series of prepara- 

 tions illustrative of the anatomy of the Mole, will be found in the 

 Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. 



The family Talpidce is thus characterised : Head long, narrow, 

 somewhat depressed ; nose much prolonged, pointed flexible ; eyes 

 very minute; ears hidden; feet plantigrade; anterior limbs largely 

 developed. 



Talpa. Body stout and thick, furry; head elongated, pointed; 

 muzzle cartilaginous, strengthened by the snout-bone; eyes very 

 small; no external ears; anterior feet short and wide, with five 

 united toes armed with trenchant nails proper for digging ; posterior 

 feet with five toes also, but weak. Tail short. 



Dental Formula : Incisors, -; Canines, ti; Molars, inl = 44. 

 8 7 7 



Skeleton of Mole. (Dc Blainrille.) The nuchal bone and accessory carpel sabre-shaped bone are here shown. 



The organisation of these animals ig very peculiar. The cranium | T. Europcta, the Common Mole. This well-known animal, so 

 \ elongated and pointed, and there it a peculiar bone for the support | familiar to all that it would ba a needless Waste of space to describe 



HAT. HUT. PIT. VOL. IV. 3 T 



