54 si necdotal Natural History. 



that the habits of the animal should be so little 

 understood and appreciated, and we can only hope 

 for the time when the spread of zoological knowledge 

 shall have shown that both this, and many others of 

 the so-called ' vermin,' instead of being persecuted, 

 should be protected and encouraged to the utmost 

 of our power. 



TURNING to foreign countries, we find several very 

 near relations of our common mole, some of which 

 present very great peculiarities both in habits and 

 form. One of the most remarkable of these animals 

 is the Chrysochlore, Shining Mole, or Changeable 

 Mole (Chrysochloris Jwlosericea), found chiefly in the 

 Cape of Good Hope. As before mentioned, the fur 

 of this creature possesses a brilliant metallic radiance, 

 changing in various lights, and far superior to that of 

 our British example, beautiful though that is. The 

 scientific title is singularly appropriate, the name 

 Chrysochloris being formed from two Greek words sig- 

 nifying gold-green ; and Jiolosericea, i.e. wholly silken, 

 referring to the texture of the hairs. 



In other ways, also, the Chrysochlore is worthy of 

 notice. The digging paws are formed after a very 

 singular fashion, being provided with four toes, the 

 last of which is but of small size. The remaining 

 three, however, are furnished with very long and 

 powerful claws, the middle one especially being of 

 surprising dimensions. 



The jaws of this species are constructed after a per- 

 fectly unique fashion, a gap equal to the width of a 

 tooth being left between each ; so that when the 

 jaws are closed, the teeth of each jaw fit into the in- 

 terstices of the opposite one like those of a steel 

 trap. 



In the skeleton, also, are found several peculiarities. 



