MOLE. 



247 



that this character belongs to the tooth immediately 

 behind it. -The fact is, that, though the teeth in the 

 lower jaw are of a highly trenchant, and even carni- 

 vorous character, there does not appear to be among 

 them anything which can be decidedly called a canine 

 tooth in the proper sense of the term. This is rather 

 a curious circumstance in the mouth of the mole, in- 

 asmach as the rest of its teeth are of a more carni- 

 vorous character than those of any others of the in- 

 sectivorous mammalia. In consequence of this for- 

 mation of the teeth, the mole does not kill its prey, 

 when that prey is warm-blooded, by one decisive 

 bite, as is the case with the regular carnivora. Its 

 great strength, and the powerful cross motion which 

 it has in its fore paws, enable it to master the prey, 

 and hold it down ; and the first wound which it in- 

 flicts is that of tearing open the belly of the victim, and 

 devouring its vitals. Though it has been sometimes 

 said that the mole will occasionally feed upon farina- 

 ceous roots, such a mode of feeding is by no means pro- 

 bable, inasmuch as the digestive organs of the animal 

 are wholly of a carnivorous character. The stomach 

 is indeed large for the size of the animal, but it is 

 membranous, and the intestines have not even a 

 vestige of a caecal appendage, which is rarely, if ever, 

 wanting in vegetable feeders. Besides the smaller 

 inhabitants below the surface of the earth, and mice, 

 and occasional birds, the mole has no hesitation in 

 despatching frogs and newts, and perhaps even the 

 smaller snakes ; but it has been well ascertained that 

 it will not attack a toad, even though reduced to the 

 utmost extremity by that hunger of which it is so im- 

 patient. The cause of this seems to be the peculiar 

 secretion given out by the skin of the toad, which 

 protects that most harmless and inoffensive of ani- 

 mals from the attacks of almost every foe. This se- 

 cretion is exceedingly acrid, and thus it repels even 

 the hungry mole, which is, without question, the most 

 voracious of all animals. Still moles find abundance 

 of food. When seen, they are always in good con- 

 dition ; and in places which are suited to them they 

 are very numerous, notwithstanding the labours of 

 human mole-catchers, and the disposition which the 

 animals have to prey upon each other. This dispo- 

 sition is so great, that two moles of the same sex, or 

 even of different sexes, except at a particular season, 

 cannot meet without a combat, which invariably ends 

 in the devouring of the weaker one by the stronger. 

 It should seem that there is some provision with re- 

 gard to this in the ruts or highways which the moles 

 make, for these are always so constructed as that 

 only one mole can pass along ; and though the same 

 common path is sometimes used by several of them, 

 the weaker ones always contrive to escape into a 

 side-gallery when they find the stronger advancing 

 upon them ; and, as no animal absolutely hunts its 

 own species as regular prey, they by this means 

 make their escape. 



The organs of motion in the moles are as peculiar 

 and characteristic as any others of their system. The 

 general form of the feet, and their adaptation to the 

 subterranean operations of the animals, have been 

 partially alluded to in a general way in the article 

 MAMMALIA. It will be necessary, however, to advert 

 to them somewhat more in detail, in order to enable 

 the reader to form a correct estimate of this most 

 singular of all European mammalia. The mole may 

 be considered as the most perfect type of digging 

 animals ; and there is no other genus which is so 



admirably fitted for making its way under ground. 

 The anterior extremities that is, the fore paws, or 

 hands, as we may term them are differently placed 

 and articulated from those of every other" animal. 

 They are placed more in advance or nearer the head 

 than in other animals ; they are very short, but firm, 

 in all their individual bones ; and they are provided 

 with very powerful muscles. The blade-bone is long 

 and slender, presenting some vestiges of spinous pro- 

 cesses, by means of which it has much more firm 

 imbedment in the flesh. The clavicle is also both 

 long and strong, and projects forward, so that the 

 shoulder-joint, or articulation of the humerus, advances 

 to nearly the middle of the neck ; and while this 

 structure enables the fore paws to act more in advance 

 than if the shoulder-joint were placed as in the other 

 mammalia, it at the same time furnishes the neck 

 with a support on each side, by means of which the 

 pointed and cartilaginous muzzle can bore through 

 the soil with rapidity and certainty. The humerus 

 is of a very peculiar structure, appearing as if the 

 round or medial part were obliterated, and the two 

 ends of the bone brought close upon each other. 

 The radius is short, but very stout, entirely separated 

 from the cubitus ; and the olecranal process pro- 

 jects as far as the articulation of the arm with the 

 fore arm, or that which answers to the elbow-joint in 

 man. The bones which form the hand are very finely 

 constructed. With the exception of the last pha- 

 langes which carry the nails, the bones are all remark- 

 ably short; and though the upper joints have much 

 motion, the under ones are stiff and firm, and the 

 hand cannot be bent backwards even to a straight 

 line. The palm or flat of the hand, or fore paw, is 

 turned outwards ; so that, when the mole digs, the 

 earth which it removes is not thrown under the belly 

 of the animal, as is the case in those animals which 

 dig by the downward action of the feet in a direction 

 parallel to a mesial plane. It is thrown upwards ; 

 and, as the hands really work in advance of the thick 

 part of the head and body, it is really thrown for- 

 wards ; and when it accumulates in such quantity as 

 to impede the operations of the animal, it is forced 

 to the surface in those little heaps which are usually 

 found marking the course of moles on their feeding 

 grounds. These little heaps, which consist of earth 

 simply thrown out of the way of the animal as lum- 

 ber, must not be confounded with the permanent 

 mole-hill afterwards to be spoken of, which is a much 

 more curious and elaborate structure ; neither must 

 the fresh heaps which are seen on the feeding ground 

 be considered as indicating the position of the per- 

 manent galleries, along which the mole passes and 

 repasses, and in which alone it can be taken. In 

 those temporary openings which are made in the 

 operation of feeding, it would be in vain to set a 

 mole-trap ; because the mole never passes them a 

 second time, though they are generally at no great 

 distance from a permanent galley. The fore paws 

 of the mole bear some slight resemblance to the hands 

 of the human subject ; but this resemblance is very 

 slight, as the thumb and fingers act in the same direc- 

 tion, and the paw in its general shape bears some 

 resemblance to a pointed shovel, the most effective 

 "nstrument for at once dividing and removing the soil 

 The last bones are entirely incased with large claws, 

 and the principal bend of which the hand is suscep- 

 tible is the joints of those, by means of which the 

 claws are brought so as to form rather less than a 



