ORDER CARNASSIER. 193 



the mouth is closed. The Chrysochlore, is, we believe, the 

 only example in the animal world, of teeth being opposed 

 by their anterior and posterior faces. 



The toes of the front feet are three in number, and the 

 external one, enveloped altogether in a nail formed for 

 digging, is of a monstrous size. The hind feet have five 

 toes, and the external one is the shortest. These animals 

 have no tail, nor any external conch to the ear. Accord- 

 ing to Seba, neither the eyes nor mamma are perceptible ; 

 and he also says that the nostrils are situated on the ante- 

 rior part of the muzzle, as in the Hog. The other parts of 

 the organization have not been yet described. 



The Cape Chrysochlore (Talpa Asiatica) is smaller than 

 the common Mole, but it has the same forms and very 

 nearly the same physiognomy. It also lives beneath the 

 earth, in burrows, the arrangement of which is not known. 

 It digs with its fore-feet, which are armed with very thick 

 nails, and the force of which is moreover sustained by a 

 peculiar bone found in the arm below the cubitus. But 

 what distinguishes this animal from all the other Mam- 

 malia is the brilliancy of its fur, which exhibits metallic 

 reflections, changing from green to a bronze red or golden 

 yellow, and which reminds us of the dazzling plumage of 

 some tropical birds, or the splendid hues of many of the 

 scaly tribes. The female, as Seba hath it, does not differ 

 from the male, except that the hairs of the muzzle and 

 head are shorter and more yellowish, and those of the belly 

 exhibit greater brilliancy of reflected radiance. It is from 

 this golden colour that this sub-genus has received its name > 



The Chrysochlore is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Seba had announced it as original in Siberia, and this 

 error was adopted by Buffbn and Linnaeus. Brown, in his 

 Zoological Illustrations, was the first who pointed out the 

 true habitat of this animal. 



The Red Mole {Talpa rubra, Lin.) This species is 



Vol. If. O 



