48 Anecdotal Natural History. 



order to attain this result, each hair is finest nearest 

 the body, gradually increasing in thickness towards 

 the tip, and is set perfectly upright, in order that its 

 resistance may not impede the animal in its 

 movements. 



When washed perfectly clean, and viewed in a 

 good light, the fur is seen to be beautifully iridescent, 

 all the colours of the rainbow playing over it in 

 succession. This is still more strongly the case in 

 the changeable mole of South Africa (Chrysochloris 

 holosericea), which will be presently mentioned. 



Attempts have been made to put the skin of the 

 mole to various uses, only one of which, however, 

 seems to have met with any particular success. This 

 solitary instance is in the manufacture of purses, a 

 custom much in vogue among the peasantry in some 

 parts of the country. The operation is simplicity 

 itself, the head and legs of the animal being taken 

 off, the skin of the rest of the body dried, and the bag 

 thus formed being closed by a string round the neck. 

 In Wiltshire these purses are in very common use. 

 From the great warmth of the fur of the mole, it has 

 often been thought that it might be utilized in the 

 manufacture of garments ; and the late Mr. Frank 

 Buckland, always fond of trying experiments in 

 anything relating to natural history, procured a 

 number of the skins, and had a waistcoat made from 

 them. 



However, he was never able to wear it, for two 

 reasons the first being that it was even too warm, 

 so much so as to be almost unendurable ; and the 

 second, that it was impossible to get rid of the 

 unpleasant odour which characterizes the mole, and 

 which persistently clung to the skins for years after they 

 had been separated from the bodies of their owners. 



So strong is this odour, and so long does it retain 



