The Mole. 49 



its power after the death of the animal, that the 

 professional mole- catchers are accustomed, before 

 setting each trap, to rub their hands with the body 

 of one of their victims, which they carry with them 

 for that purpose, in order that the wary animals may 

 not detect the human scent about the trap, and be 

 warned of their danger accordingly. 



With the single exception of sight, the senses of 

 the mole are developed to a very considerable extent. 



Its hearing is proverbially acute. For instance, in 

 Shakespeare's play of The Tempest, the deformed 

 slave Caliban advises his friends, when they are about 

 to rob Prospero : ' Pray you, tread softly, that the 

 blind mole may not hear a footfall,' a phrase which 

 has since become almost a household word. 



It is not to be supposed that this sharpness of 

 hearing is entirely owing to the delicate structure of 

 the mole's ear ; for if it were to live in the open air, 

 it is doubtful whether it would be able to hear better 

 than any other animal. The fact is, that the earth 

 is a very good conductor of sound, as may be easily 

 proved by laying the ear upon the surface of a high 

 road, when the noise of an approaching carriage may 

 be distinctly heard while it is yet two or three miles 

 distant. 



Here, again, we have an instance in Shakespeare. 

 In Romeo and Juliet, Act v. Scene iii., occur the 

 lines ; 



' Under yon yew-tree lay thee all along, 

 Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground ; 

 So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread, 

 Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves, 

 But thou shalt hear it.' 



The sense, too, of scent is particularly strong, 

 enabling the mole to detect the presence of the 

 insects and \\orms upon which it preys. 



D 



