398 THE COMMON MOLE. 



iron iraps to be constructed ; by which, in less than 

 three weeks, he caught 1300 Moles. — To this in- 

 stance of devastation we may add the following : In 

 the year 1742 they were so nrmerous in some parts 

 of Holland, that one farmer alone caught between 

 five and six thousand of them. The destruction oc- 

 casioned by these aniaials is, however, no new phe- 

 nomenon. We are informed that the inhabitants af 

 tlie island of Tenedos, the Trojans, and the Cohans, 

 were infested by them in the earliest ages ; and for 

 this rea-on a temple was erected to Apollo Srayn- 

 thius, the Destroyer of Moles. 



I shall conclude this article with Dr. Darwin's 

 description of tlic habitations of Moles ; and an ac- 

 count of the methods in which they are to be taken. 

 — " The Moles (says this writer) have cities under- 

 ground ; which consist of houses, or nests, where 

 they breed and nurse their young. Communicating 

 with these are \\ ider and more frequented streets, 

 made by the perpetual journeys of the male and fe- 

 male parents : as well as many other less frequented 

 alleys or by-roads, with many diverging branches, 

 which they daily extend to collect food for them- v 

 selves or their progeny. 



*' This animal is most active in the vernal months, 

 during the time of its courtship ; and many more 

 burrows are at this time made in the earth for their 

 meeting with each other. And though they are 

 commonly esteemed to be blind, yet they appear to 

 have some perception of light, even in their subter- 

 raneous habitations ; because they begin their work 

 as soon as it is light, and consequently before the 



