74 THE MOLE 



belong to families far removed from the Talpidse. The 

 North American moles, indeed, the star-nosed (Condy- 

 lura) and shrew moles (Scalops and Scapanus), are 

 nearly related to the European species, but the curious 

 golden mole of South Africa must be classed among 

 the Chrysochloridce, and there are moles in the eastern 

 Mediterranean region, in Asia and South Africa, belong- 

 ing to the family of rodents, and therefore related to 

 the beavers, guinea-pigs, rabbits, and rats. In Austral- 

 asia, where nearly all the placental types have their 

 counterpart in the marsupial or pouched forms of a 

 remote geological age, there has been discovered within 

 quite recent years the pouched mole (Notoryctes 

 typhlops), a little creature about six inches long, covered 

 with reddish fur. All these so-called moles exhibit in 

 their organisation a perfect adaptation of structure to 

 the peculiar mode of existence assigned to or adopted 

 by their race. 



The geographical distribution of the British or 

 European mole is enormous, extending from England 

 to Japan, from the limits of frozen ground in Russia 

 and Scandinavia to the Mediterranean and the southern 

 aspect of the Himalayas, where it is actually found at 

 an elevation of 10,000 feet. It exists in every county 

 of England and Scotland, but, strange to say, it is alto- 

 gether absent from Ireland. Firmly convinced though I 

 am of its useful offices to agriculturists, I should hesitate 

 before risking the addition of another to the long list 

 of Irish grievances against Britain by introducing this 

 little quadruped into the Emerald Isle. 



