THE MOLE. 325 



The forefeet, which in the seals and bats do service as oars 

 and wings, are in the mole converted into powerful shovels. 

 Situated obliquely outwards, they are excessively strong and 

 broad, and moreover furnished with very large and stout claws ; 

 so that they are able to work their way through a favourable 

 soil with astonishing rapidity, while the diminutive hind-feet 

 are employed in throwing back the previously-excavated earth. 

 The long and moveable snout, which acts in some measure as a 

 wedge, assists the mole in pushing along through the soil : and 

 every worm and larva it meets on its way is instantly devoured 

 with greedy haste, for no animal is less able to endure fasting, 

 and hence it may be inferred how great a destruction it causes 



Skeleton of the Mole. 



among the grubs of noxious insects. The services it thus ren- 

 ders are far greater than any detriment it may cause to the roots 

 of garden-plants ; and if the husbandman knew better how to 

 distinguish his friends from his enemies, he certainly would be 

 more anxious to protect the mole, than mercilessly to destroy it 

 wherever he meets with it. 



Though not seeking their nourishment under the earth like 

 the mole, many other mammalians prefer a subterraneous abode, 

 or endeavour to escape from pursuit by quickly burrowing in 

 the earth, and in all these cases we invariably find short stout- 

 legs and powerful claws ; for wherever Providence has given a 

 creature a particular instinct, it has also taken care to provide 

 it with the instruments that are necessary for bringing it into 

 action. Thus armed, the armadillos burrow with such asto- 

 nishing rapidity, that it is almost impossible to get at them 

 by digging ; and the African aardvarks are no less expert, for 

 when once their muscular forefeet have penetrated into the 

 ground, the strongest man cannot draw them back. 



