THE MOLE. 341 



the creature can hardly be detained without holding it 

 tightly. This, however, is sure to kill the Mole, 

 which is curiously sensitive to a grasp round the waist ; 

 and, although no signs of injury can be detected, 

 the animal is sure to die before many hours have 

 elapsed. It is a strangely delicate animal ; and, in 

 spite of the ferocity, and even the fury of its dispo- 

 sition, seems to have but little hold on life. 



Only a few days before writing this account, a 

 professional mole-catcher brought me a fine specimen. 

 Not having by me a large box or tub in which I could 

 put some earth, I placed the animal in a box which 

 had been filled with specimens of auriferous quartz 

 from Brazil. Some of the dust was still left in the 

 corners, and this appeared to be fatal to the Mole, 

 which ran about with great fussiness, poking its long, 

 mobile muzzle into each corner, and seeming to be 

 quite distressed at the dust. 



Its movements became perceptibly slower; and 

 before an hour had elapsed, the Mole was dead. It 

 would not even touch one of the worms for which I 

 sent the gardener as soon as it arrived ; and, from that 

 unwonted abstinence, I augured bad things ; the Mole 

 generally flying at a worm as if it were mad.' 



By what sense the animal .is able to trace its prey, 

 or how it can manage to find its way through the 

 innumerable tunnels which it drives, at all kinds of 

 levels, are two problems which have hitherto remained 

 unsolved. Anyone who has seen a worm jerk itself 

 into its hole, can appreciate the quickness with which 

 it can pass through its narrow tunnel ; and it certainly 

 is a mystery to me how the Mole can manage to 



