1 t8 



V ERTEBRATA. 



For the excavation of the galleries which these animals make in pursuit of insects and worms, 

 and in which they almost constantly reside, their anterior limbs, although short, are exceedingly 

 powerful, and bo arranged as to form most efficient instruments for digging. In the common 



%._ 



FORK-FOOT OP THE MOLE. MIND-FOOT. 



nEAD OF MOLE. 



mole of Europe, the hones of the arm are very short and strong, and the limb is terminated by a 

 broad, flat, and shovel-like hand, armed with long and strong claws, furnished with a curved 

 prolongation of one of the carpal bones, called the falciform bone, which gives additional strength 

 to the hand, and is so placed that its palm is naturally turned directly backward. By the agency 



-. - 







THE COMMON MOLE. 



of these digging hands, the mole burrows with great rapidity, and the galleries which it forms 

 are of a very complicated nature. 



The Common Mole, T. Europcea, is found in most parts of Europe, and is well known for its 

 furious cylindrical form, and the blackness of its velvet-like coat. Its eyelids are open, and it has 

 been proved by experiment to have the power of sight, although it is a popular belief that the 

 mole is quite Mind : this, indeed, is the case with another species, inhabiting the south of Europe. 

 T. coca, which is supposed to he the mole referred to by those ancient naturalists from whose 

 ments the charge of blindness has been applied to this species. 



Although the greater part of this animal's labor in digging is undoubtedly expended in the 

 pur-uit of food, a portion of his excavations are of a more permanent nature, serving for his 

 regular residence, and as a high road leading from this to different parts of the district which he ' 



appropriated. Bis residence consists of a large hillock of earth, firmly beaten together, and 

 placed in some secure situation ; within this are two circular galleries, one above the other, 

 and communicating with each other; the chamber inhabited by the animal is excavated in the , 

 center of the lower gallery, and communicates with the upper one by three short passages. From ' 



