HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



CHAPTER I. 



BURROWING MAMMALIA. 



Introduction. — Man as a Burrower.— The Mole and its Dwelling. — Difficulty of 

 observing its Habits. — Complicated structure of its Fortress, and its Uses. — 

 Character of the Mole. — Adaptation of its Form to its mode of Life. — Common 

 Objects. — The Shrew Mole, Elephant Shrew, and Musk Rat. — The Arctic 

 Fox. — Structure of its Limbs. — Form of its Burrow. — Its Character, Fur, and 

 Flesh. — The common Fox. — Mode of Burrowing and economy of Labor. — The 

 young Family. — The Weasel, and some of its Habits. — The Badger and its 

 Burrow. — The Prairie Dog, or Wish-ton-Wish. — Dog-towns. — Unpleasant 

 Intruders. — The Rabbit, and the Warren. — Self-sacrifice. — Study of animal Life. 

 — The Chipping Squirrel. — Curious form of its Dwelling. — Its subterranean 

 Treasures. — The Woodchdck, the Pouched Rat, the Camas Rat, the Mole 

 Rat, and the Sand Mole. — The White Bear. — Its curious Dwelling. — Snow as 

 a Shelter. — The Piciiiciago. — Its Form, Armor, and Burrow. — The Armadillos 

 and their Habits. — The Manis. — The Aard Vark, its Food and Dwelling. — 

 The Mallangong. — Its strange Habits and its Burrow. — The Porcupine Ant- 

 Eater. — Its burrowing Powers. 



At some period of their existence, many of the higher animals 

 require a Home, either as a shelter from the weather, or a de- 

 fense against their enemies. Of all forms of habitation, the sim- 

 plest is a burrow, whether beneath the surface of the ground, or 

 into stone, wood, or any other substance. 



The lowest grades of human beings are found to adopt this 

 easy and simple substitute for a home, and the Bosjesman of the 

 Cape, and the " Digger" Indian of America, alike resort to so 

 obvious an expedient. If the country be craggy and mountain- 

 ous, a casual cleft or hollow affords a habitation exactly suited to 

 a race of mankind who have never undergone any training in 

 industry, who never exert themselves until forced to do so by 

 some imperative demand of nature, and who reduce such exer- 

 tion to the minimum of labor which some present emergency 

 requires. 



