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to the Earl of Essex, in Herefordshire, the 

 deer in it never throve." 



The Rev. C. A. Bury, who has published 

 some very White-of-Selborne-like notes on 

 the "Mammalia of the Isle of Wight," in 

 the pages of " The Zoologist," observes that 

 "On some lands the drainage is effected 

 wholly or in part by the Moles. So far, 

 then (he says), I think the farmer might 

 spare the Moles to his own advantage, and 

 save some shillings, perhaps pounds, to the 

 mole-catcher. Man is too fond of meddling, 

 and often blunders to his own cost. In his 

 attempts at improvement, he only disturbs 

 the balance of creation. Granted that occa- 

 sionally some species of animal, favoured by 

 circumstances, either the scarcity of its ap- 

 pointed check (occasioned, perhaps, by the 

 meddling hand of man), or a superabun- 

 dance of its natural food, may increase be- 

 yond due bounds, and so require the inter- 

 position of human force or skill, let that 

 force and skill be then exerted ; but I believe 

 that this would be seldom necessary ; things 

 would right themselves. They have been 

 generally found to do so, unless man has 

 carried his meddling propensities to the 

 extent of utterly extirpating the appointed 

 check ; for it seems to be a law of creation, 

 that where there is food, there will be pro- 

 vided that which feeds on it, and that in 

 just proportion. The Mole is evidently an 

 appointed check to the undue increase of 

 the earthworm : it not only devours num- 

 bers itself, but by its burrowing drives to 

 the surface many more, which, in their at- 

 tempt to escape the Mole, fall a prey to the 

 robin and the thrush. The earthworm, un- 

 questionably, has its uses, in drawing vege- 

 table substances beneath the surface, and so 

 the gases that are released in the process of 

 decomposition, and which would otherwise 

 be lost, are preserved for the nutriment of 

 the growing plant, while the portion de- 

 voured by the worm is again thrown to the 

 surface in the form best adapted for the 

 nutriment of the plant above ground. But 

 worms devour the roots of plants ; and were 

 there no checks to their increase, vegetation 

 would be seriously injured, instead of bene- 

 fited, by their existence : so long, however, 

 as they are kept in check by the mole be- 

 neath, and the birds above ground, perhaps 

 even their destruction of some plants is 

 benefical in preventing a too crowded herb- 

 age. Thus, then, all is well arranged by 

 Divine Wisdom ; but if man steps in, 

 throttles the mole, and shoots or snares the 

 birds, he must, if he carry his interference 

 far, produce a disturbance among God's 

 works, to his own detriment." 



MOLE CRICKET. {Gryllotalpa vul- 

 gar is.) Of all the British Orthopterons in- 

 sects, the Mole Cricket is by far the most 

 curious. It derives its name from the pecu- 

 liar formation of its anterior extremities, 

 and its resemblance in its habits to those of 

 the Mole. It is about two inches long, and 

 of a broad shape. In making its burrows, it 

 cuts through or detaches all the roots of 

 plants that lie in its way. It is readily dis- 

 tinguished by the extraordinary structure 



of its fore legs, which are excessively strong, 

 and furnished with very broad feet divided 

 into several sharp, claw-shaped segments. 

 The Mole Cricket emerges from its subter- 

 raneous retreats only by night, when it 

 creeps about the surface and occasionally 



MOT..E CRICKET. 

 (ORTLLOTALFA VULOARIS.) 



employs its wings in flight : it is at that 

 time also that it exercises its chirping call. 

 It lives entirely on vegetables, devouring 

 the young roots of grasses, corn, and various 

 esculent plants, and commits great devasta- 

 tion in gardens. 



When the female is fecundated, she forms 

 a cell of clammy earth, in which she deposits 

 about a hundred and fifty eggs : this nest, 

 which is about the size of a common hen's 

 egg, is carefully closed up on every side, as 

 well to defend its contents from the injuries 

 of the weather, as from the attacks of car- 

 nivorous beetles ; which, being themselves 

 underground inhabitants, would certainly, 

 but for this precaution, either devour or 

 destroy them. Nothing, indeed, can exceed 

 the care and assiduity of the Mole Cricket 

 in the preservation of its young. Wherever 

 a nest is situated, fortifications, avenues, and 

 entrenchments surround it : there are also 

 numerous winding by-ways which lead to 

 it ; and a ditch encompasses the whole, 

 which few insects are capable of passing. 

 But the diligence of these little animals does 

 not end here : at the approach of winter 

 they move their nests entirely away, and 

 sink them deeper in the ground ; so that 

 the influence of the frost cannot retard the 

 young brood in their progress to maturity. 

 When the weather grows milder, they raise 

 their habitations, &c. in proportion ; till at 

 last they are brought as near the surface as 

 possible, without being wholly exposed to 

 , view, in order to receive the genial influence 

 I of the sun ; but should the frost unexpect- 

 I edly return, they again sink them to their 

 former depth. 



MOLLUSCA, or MOLLUSCS. The term 

 applied to that large division or class of 

 animals which inhabit and form shells. 

 Their bodies are soft, and destitute of an ar- 

 I ticulated skeleton or vertebral column : and 

 instead of the nervous system being de- 

 veloped in the form of a spinal chord, it is 

 simply dispersed more or less irregularly in 

 different parts of the body. Some species 

 are terrestrial, and breathe air ; but the 

 greater part live entirely in the water, from 

 which they derive their nutriment, and in 

 which they breathe by the aid of bronchus, 

 or certain gill-like appendages. Those 



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