TAI.PIDJE. MAMMALIA. TALPID/E. 



Cl 



on the back, and shallowed out at the palm (fig. 15). 

 Every finger is armed with a strong pointed nail, grooved 

 on the under surface, while all of them converge to- 

 gether at the tips, forming a powerful kind of digger or 



Fig. 15. 



Froiit and back 



of the hand or fore-foot of the Mole (Talpa 

 Europsea). 



hoe. Of our more common animals, few have had 

 their behaviour and manner of living more thoroughly 

 exposed than the mole. Pennant, speaking of its 

 powers of progression, says" The breadth, strength, 

 and shortness of the fore feet, which are inclined side- 

 ways, answer the use as well as the form of hands, to 

 scoop out the earth to form its habitation, or to pursue 

 its prey. Had they been longer, the falling in of the 

 earth would have prevented the quick repetition of its 

 strokes in working, or have impeded its course ; the 

 oblique position of the fore feet has also this advantage, 

 that it flings all the lose soil behind the animal. The 

 form of the body is not less admirably contrived for its 

 way of life ; the fore part is thick and very muscular, 

 giving great strength to the action of the fore part, 

 enabling it to dig its way with great force and rapidity, 

 either to pursue its prey or elude the search of the 

 most active enemy. The form of its hind parts, which 

 are small and taper, enables it to pass with facility 

 through the earth that the fore feet had flung behind ; 

 for, had each part of the body been of equal thickness, 

 its flight would have been impeded, and its security 

 precarious. The skin is excessively compact, and so 

 tough as not to be cut but by a very sharp knife ; the 

 hair is very short and close set, and softer than the 

 finest silk ; the usual colour is black, not but there are 

 instances of these animals being spotted, and a cream- 

 coloured breed is sometimes found in dry lands near 

 Downing. The smallness of the eyes (which gave 

 occasion to the ancients to deny the sense of sight) is 

 to this animal a peculiar happiness ; a small degree of 

 vision is sufficient for an animal ever destined to live 

 under ground. Had these organs been larger, they 

 would have been perpetually liable to injuries by the 

 earth falling into them ; but nature, to prevent that 

 inconvenience, hath not only made them very small, 

 but also covered them very closely with fur. To make 

 amends for the dimness of its sight, the mole is amply 

 recompensed by the great perfection of two other 

 senses, those of hearing and smelling ; the first gives it 

 notice of the most distant approach of danger; the 

 other, which is equally exquisite, directs it in the 

 midst of darkness to its food ; the nose also, being very 

 long and slender, is well formed for thrusting into small 

 holes in search of the worms and insects that inhabit 

 them. These gifts may with reason be said to com- 

 pensate the defect of sight, as they supply in this 



animal all its wants, and all the purposes of that 

 sense." But the most interesting researches concern- 

 ing this extraordinary creature, are undoubtedly those 

 of the French writer Henri le Court. This indefa- 

 tigable observer pointed out that the mole pushes its 

 way through the soil, not at mere random, in any 

 chance direction ; but having selected certain localities 

 or hunting grounds, as they have been called, con- 

 structs a habitation or fortress. This is sometimes 

 formed " under a considerable hillock raised in some 

 secure place, often at the root of a tree, under a bank, 

 or any shelter that offers protection. The fortress is 

 domed by a cement, so to speak, of earth, which has 

 been beaten and compressed by the architect into a 

 compact and solid state. Within, a circular gallery is 

 formed at the base, and communicates with an upper 

 smaller gallery by five passages, which are nearly at 

 equal distances (fig. 16). Within the lower and undei 

 the upper of these galleries is the chamber or dormitory, 

 which has access to the upper gallery by three similar 

 passages. From this habitation, we should here 

 observe, the high road, by which the proprietor reaches 



Fig. 16 



Fortress or liabK* 



' the common Mole. 



the opposite end of the encampment, is prolonged, while 

 the various galleries or excavations open into this road, 

 which the mole is continually carrying out and extend- 

 ing in its search for food, and which has been termed 

 its hunting ground. But to return to the chamber: 

 from it another road extends, the direction of which 

 is downwards at first, and that for several inches, when 

 it again rises to open into the high road of the terri - 

 tory. Some eight or nine other passages open out 

 from the external circular gallery, but the orifices of 

 these never come opposite to the passages which con- 

 nect the external gallery with the internal and upper 

 gallery. The extent of these passages is greater or 

 less according to circumstances, and they each return 

 by an irregular and semicircular route, opening at 

 various distances from the habitation into the high 

 road, which differs considerably from all the other 

 passages and excavations, both in construction and 

 with regard to the use to which it is applied. From 

 the habitation this road is carried out nearly in a 

 straight line, and forms the main passage of communi- 

 cation between the habitation, the different portions of 

 the encampment, and the alleys leading to the hunting 

 ground, which open into it on each side. In diameter 

 it exceeds the body of the mole, but its sides will not 

 admit of two moles passing each other. The walls, 

 from the reiterated pressure of the mole's sides against 

 them, become smooth and compact, and its course it, 

 remarkable for the comparative absence of molehills, 

 which are frequent in connection with the alleys and 



