30 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



fur of the Mole, that they have been desirous of having a num- 

 ber of the skins collected and made into a waistcoat. This cer- 

 tainly can be done, but is not a commendable plan, for the gar- 

 ments thus made are very hot, so that they can only be worn in 

 winter; they are very expensive, costing from two to three 

 pounds, and they possess but little lasting powers. There is 

 also a wonderfully strong smell about the Mole, so strong, in- 

 deed, that dogs will sometimes point at Moles instead of game, 

 to the great disgust of their masters. This odor adheres ob- 

 stinately to the skin, and even in furs, which have been dried 

 for more than ten years, I have noticed this unpleasant savor. 



The Mole is one of those animals which, like the sloth, are 

 formed expressly for the condition of life in which they are 

 placed. There are many burrowing animals, but the Mole is 

 emphatically the burrower, the very type of a creature which is 

 intended to pass the whole of an active existence under ground. 

 I say an active existence, because there are many other creatures 

 which lead a subterranean life, but which are comparatively 

 quiet and listless during their sojourn underground. But the 

 Mole absolutely riots in the exuberance of animal spirits and 

 muscular activity, passing through the earth almost like a fish 

 through the water, and giving to its strange, and apparently 

 sombre life, a poetry and an interest which we fail to find in 

 the lives of many creatures more richly endowed with external 

 beauty. 



Let me recommend the reader to procure, or at all events to ex- 

 amine, the skeleton of a Mole, and to note the wonderful structure 

 by which such effects are produced. The enormous shoulder- 

 blades, projecting far above the spine, the short, bowed, and pow- 

 erful bones of the fore limbs, the wide, flattened palms, and the 

 strong, sharp, and curved claws, look almost like a miniature mod- 

 el of some machine invented for the purpose of tearing the stub- 

 born earth. 



See how all the power is thrown into the fore quarters, while 

 the hind quarters are feeble, and, in comparison, common-place. 

 See how enormously strong must be the muscles of the neck, 

 where the ligament (popularly called the paxwax) is hardened 

 into bone. The nose, too, is furnished with an accessory bone, 

 which projects into the snout, and gives it that combined strength 

 and mobility which distinguishes the creature. Immediately aft- 

 er death the snout of the Mole is flexible and elastic, springing 



