98 Royal Society :— 
that all are very good and some admirable, there is little occasion 
for special criticism. We can only hope that the success of this ele- 
gant little volume may be such as to induce the artist and his pub- 
lisher to continue their undertaking, and to furnish us in the same 
form with a complete series of these portraits, which will be of the 
highest value hereafter as illustrations to the history of scierfce. 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ROYAL SOCIETY.. 
April 28, 1870. = William Allen ev Treasurer and 
ice- President, in the Chai 
** On the = a Vision in the Common Mole.” By ROBERT 
James LEE 
The eye of the Common Mole and the structures connected with 
it undergo some remarkable changes during the growth of the ani- 
mal. The gentleman who does me the do to present the results 
of an investigation into that subject to the Royal Society was desi- 
rous that it should be undertaken in order to ascertain the cause 
of the rg inue condition in which the organ of vision is found in 
the adult Mol 
It was the CART of Mr. Solly that an examination of the eye 
of the young or fcetal Mole might assist in the explanation; for 
Mr. Solly had reflected much on the subj ect, and entertained reasons 
for believing that such an inquiry would be attended with a satisfac- 
tory resuit. 
It is known that there is distinct evidence of the existence of an 
eye d other parts concerned in the endowment of sight in many of 
the various species of the Molegenus. To what extent, however, the 
defective state of the organs permit of Sight, or whether the animal 
is Pay blind, are questions still undeci 
the organs of vision in i young Mole would be found in a 
more ket state than in mature age was what Mr. Solly anticipated, 
while he conjectured, for Andes reasons, that the cause of the 
difference between them would be found to be a process of atrophy 
or degeneration in the various structures essential for the enjoyment 
The specimens sent me for the purpose of examination cine 
of a female Mole, which appeared, from its dimensions, to hav 
tained the full period of development, if it had not somewhat aod 
it, and of six unborn young about an inch and a quarter long, and, 
as far as I could judge, beyond the middle of the period of gestation. 
Before entering into anatomieal details, I venture to review briefly 
the res which have been made by anatomists into this sub- 
ject ary of the views entertained by those who preceded 
him is ape 3 Gottfried Treviranus, in his work published in 1820, 
* Vermischte Schriften, anatomischer und phere Inhalt,’ 
in the chapter on the Nerves of Sense in Mammalian Animals. 
From this account it appears that it was Zinn who first dri an 
