THE RADIATED MOLE. 49 



removing mole-hills. In the fine and extensive pastures of 

 Leicestershire, where old mole-hills are extremely abundant, 

 sheep thrive well, and are generally healthy. I have been told 

 that after the destruction of the mole-hills in a park, which 

 formerly belonged to the present Earl of Essex, in Herefordshire, 

 the deer never throve well." * 



An old mole- catcher is recorded to have stated that he was 

 in the habit of eating moles when cooked, and that " if folks 

 generally knew what good eating they are, fewer would fall to 

 his share/'f Of the skin of the mole, pouches and other articles 

 are made. 



THE RADIATED MOLE. (Condylura cristata.) 



This species is found in North America. It is about four 

 inches long -, its eyes are very small and hidden ; its nostrils 

 are surrounded on the edges with little moveable cartilaginous 

 points, which, when they separate, radiate into a star-like form ; 

 and its tail is twice as long as that of the European mole. 



It is reported to frequent the banks of rivulets, and the soft 

 soil of adjoining meadows, where its burrows are so numerous 

 that travellers can hardly help breaking them down in walking. 



Dr. Harlan, author of the Fauna Americana, has described 

 another species (C. macroura), which has but very short points 

 about the nostrils, and a scaly compressed tail. 



* Gleanings in Natural History, vol. ii. (180), p. 27. 

 t Magazine of Natural History, vol. viii. p. 106. 



