MOLE. 



253 



the traps dangling at the tops of the released springs, 

 with not a mole in one of them. 



Le Court's traps were of a construction somewhat 

 different, and contained the springs on the under side, 

 so that they could not be jerked out of the ground. 

 The springs were of steel, so formed that when free 

 to act they crossed each other with considerable force, 

 and held the mole against the board to which they 

 were attached. When set, those springs were kept 

 apart by means of a lozenge-shaped piece of iron, the 

 two points of which bore against the insides of the 

 springs, but which was so slightly held in its place 

 that a mole could not strike against it without in- 

 stantly displacing it, and as certainly being secured 

 with the springs. Mr. Bell mentions that the mole- 

 catchers of this country have made some improve- 

 ment in this species of instrument ; but in much-fre- 

 quented runs he deprecates the use of a box trap for 

 catching moles alive, because, when more than one 

 get into such a trap, they kill and devour each other. 

 If the simple destruction of moles were the only ob- 

 ject in this case, this cannibalism would be of no con- 

 sequence ; but of course the mole-catcher is paid in 

 proportion to the number which he produces. We 

 know not what vestige the victor mole may leave of 

 the vanquished one after the feast of skulls is finished ; 

 but very probably they cannot be much worse than 

 the famed cannibal cats of Kilkenny, which left the 

 " two tails and a bit of claw " as evidence that there 

 had been more than one at the fight and the feast. 

 If this is the case, we think the fact of the moles 

 eating or not eating each other is one of very minor 

 importance ; because, if the brush is evidence that a 

 fox has been killed, the tail ought to be equally good 

 evidence in the case of a mole. 



We must, however, leave the general description 

 of these animals, interesting though they are, and 

 very briefly notice the two species, than which we 

 are not aware that any others are found in any part 

 of the world. It is true that those describers who 

 are fond of multiplying species have contrived to 

 manufacture several out of the common mole, because 

 that animal is subject to considerable variations of 

 colour. Some are found perfect albinos or white 

 all over, others are found yellow; some are found ash- 

 coloured, and some spotted or mottled with different 

 colours. We have not, however, the slightest evidence 

 that any one of these is a species, or even a perma- 

 nent variety capable of transmitting any one of its 

 variations of colour to its posterity even in one gene- 

 ration. In breaking up lea in some parts of the 

 country, especially when it is done with a deep furrow 

 and the ground friable, moles are often turned up in 

 considerable numbers, both in the mature and the 

 y.oung state ; and, though we never saw one perfectly 

 white, we have seen them of a pale ashen colour, 

 interspersed with others of the usual dark hue. Those 

 deep ploughings of their grounds, which destroy cam.p 

 and highway and castle, are of course sad catastrophes 

 to the poor moles, worse in all probability than earth- 

 quakes to human beings; and ihough.in the moment 

 of their disturbance, they would bite, and bite keenly, 

 they very speedily perish after their exposure to the 

 air. From this obvious blending of the different 

 colours in the same locality there is no reason to 

 doubt that they are all the same identical species, 

 and that there is really no mole in Europe except 

 the two species to which we have alluded. As little 

 does it appear that there are any other species of 



true mole in any part of the world ; for the golden 

 mole of the Cape, the musk rat of Russia, the star- 

 nosed mole of North America, and various other 

 allied genera, some of which have occasionally been 

 called moles, differ in more respects than mere spe- 

 cific ons from the moles properly so called. We 

 shall therefore restrict them to the two species to 

 which we have alluded, and of which we shall now 

 give a very brief notice. 



COMMON MOLE (Talpa vnlgarii). This animal is 

 so common in most parts of the country as scarcely 

 to require any particular description. It is known 

 by various names in different districts. " Mole," 

 which is its common modern English name, is obvi- 

 ously a contraction of the older one, which is not an 

 unusual way of changing names. The old English 

 name is " rnouldiwarp," or " mouldwarp," which simply 

 means that which turns or casts up the mould or soil. 

 In different places the pronunciation is different. In 

 many parts of Scotland it is the " moudiwort," in 

 others the " moudiwark," and in others again it is 

 simply the " moudie." All these are, however, the 

 same word, differently pronounced or contracted, and 

 they all have the same meaning. The intermediate 

 authors sometimes call it " moule," and that as well 

 as " mole " are simple allusions to its working in the 

 mould or earth. We also call an embankment .of 

 earth a "mole;" and the word "mall," which is 

 applied to a walk cast up or elevated above the 

 mean surface so as to be dry, is still the same 

 original word. In those parts of the midland 

 counties, especially along the slow-flowing rivers 

 which discharge their waters into the Humber or the 

 Wash, there is a process for the improvement of 

 land which is still called " warping ;" and though it 

 is really a depositation of mud, and not a casting 

 of it up, it is also derived from the same Anglo- 

 Saxon verb " Wcorpan" " to turn or cast up." This 

 process consists in allowing the tide or flood, or both 

 together, when loaded with matter which is known 

 to be useful to land, to flow over the low grounds, 

 and remain there till it deposits its load, after which 

 the water is allowed to drain off, and this produces 

 a new surface soil, bearing some slight resemblance 

 to what would be obtained by the spreading of mole- 

 hills. These etymologies show the attention that the 

 common mole attracted even in comparatively early 

 times. The whole length of the common mole is 

 nearly eight inches, the head being about an inch 

 and seven lines, the body three inches and seven 

 lines, and the tail one inch and two lines. The teeth 

 are six incisives above and eight below, all of equal 

 length. Two canines in each jaw ; eight false mo- 

 lars above and six below, and six true molars with 

 tubcrculated insectivorous crowns, making in all 

 twenty-two teeth in each jaw, and of course forty- 

 four in the whole. The body is thick and massy for 

 the size of the animal, and of an oblong form, with 

 very little distinction of neck, in consequence of the 

 advanced position of the shoulder joints, to which we 

 have already alluded. From the shortness of the 

 legs, and the peculiarity of their articulation, the 

 whole under part of the animal may be said habitually 

 to touch the ground ; and the edges of the fore paws, 

 that is, the inner edges, the very opposite of what 

 takes place in the sloths and ant-eaters, are ap- 

 plied to the surface. The head, though thick and 

 strong towards the neck, tapers gradually towards 

 the muzzle ; and that organ has a great deal of 



