THE MOLE EATS. 



121 



SKULL OF MOLE-RAT. 



mining operations. They seldom quit their burrows, and usually work in these only at night, when 



they make their way rapidly through the ground, and, like the Mole, can run either backwards or 



forwards in their subterranean galleries with equal facility. They feed chiefly on roots, and especially 



on the bulbs and tubers which so many plants possess in the dry 



districts which they frequent ; but some of them also eat nuts, 



seeds, the young bark of trees, and herbage. None of them fall 



into a state of torpidity during the winter indeed, only two 



species inhabit northern i^egions ; but these, although active in 



the winter season, are said not to take the precaution to lay 



up a store of provisions. 



Most zoologists distinguish two groups of Spalacidse. In the 

 SPALACIN^E, the representatives of which range from south-eastern 

 Europe to further India and the south of China, and also occur 

 in Africa in the countries of Abyssinia and Shoa, the palate between the molar teeth is broader than 

 one of the sockets of the molars, and the angular portion of the lower jaw springs from the lower edge 

 of the bony case of the incisor. To this group belongs the MOLE-RAT (Spalax typhlus), which 

 inhabits Hungary and Galicia, and the south-east of Europe generally, and ranges eastwards into 

 Asia as far as the Caucasus and Ekaterinoslav. It possesses only three molars on each side in each 

 jaw, and has the eyes rudimentary and covered by the skin, so that the animal is quite blind ; the 

 upper incisors are placed perpendicularly ; and the tail reduced to a sort of wart. The toes, especially 

 those of the fore-feet, are furnished with very powerful claws, which are vigorously employed by the 

 animal in the digging operations above described. The general covering of the body is a soft fur of a 

 yellowish-brown colour, tinged with ashy-grey ; the head lighter, but becoming brownish behind ; and 

 the lower surface ashy-grey, with some white streaks and spots. The muzzle, chin, and feet are 

 whitish, and along each side of the face there runs a sort of ridge of stiff bristle-like hairs. This 



species is particularly abun- 



dant in the Ukraine and the 

 country about the Volga 

 and the Don. 



The genus Rhizomys, 

 of which there are an East 

 Indian and two African 

 species known, has the eyes 

 uncovered, though very 

 small, short naked ears, and 

 a short partially hairy tail. 

 The upper incisors are 

 arched forward. The CHEST- 

 NUT MOLE-RAT (Rhizomys 

 badius) lives in Northern 

 India, Siam, and Arracan ; 

 and, according to Mr. 

 Finlayson, the food of a 

 specimen in confinement 

 consisted of unhusked rice 

 and other grain, but he 

 showed himself fond of 

 MOLE-KAT. yams and pumpkins. The 



NAKED MOLE-RAT (Hetero- 



cephalus glaber), which has no external ears amd a short tail, has the body almost entirely naked. 



It is a native of Shoa. 



The other section of the Mole rat family, the BATH VERGING, is entirely confined to Africa, and, 



indeed, almost exclusively to the southern extremity of that continent, only a single species being 



