198 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



with regard to the Mole known in Greece, and had cor- 

 rectly observed that this animal was not only completely 

 blind, but did not possess even the smallest rudiment of an 

 external eye. This, indeed, is not the only error into which 

 a too great precipitancy of judgment has led many persons, 

 in modern times, who are more prone to censure than 

 observation*. 



It had been, in truth, not a little singular, if men so ac- 

 customed to the observation of the works of nature, had 

 not perceived the eyes of the common Mole, which, though 

 very small, and a little concealed, are yet sufficiently ap- 

 parent. The skin which surrounds them, as well as the 

 hairs by which they are partly concealed, may be removed 

 at the will of the animal, to permit it to perceive objects 

 when it is above ground, while, at the same time, they pre- 

 serve it from being dazzled by any glaring light. This 

 skin, and these hairs, on the other hand, form, occasion- 

 ally, a complete covering for the eyes, and prevent them 

 from receiving any shock or injury when the Mole is at 

 work in its subterraneous galleries. At such times, the or- 



* Almost all the fertile lands of Europe are inhabited by the common 

 Mole. There are none, however, in Ireland, and few are to be found in 

 Greece, where their place is supplied by the Spalax or Rat-Mole. Aristotle 

 and Pliny have reported that the Moles, which had been brought to Le- 

 badia, in Beotia, refused to dig the ground, while in the neighbouring 

 territory of Orchomenos, they turned up all the cultivated lands. It must 

 be remarked, here, that Lebadia is a very mountainous country, while 

 Orchomenos is more flat. 



We should be deceived, if we considered, as genuine Moles, the little 

 animals, of which Spallanzani met a numerous colony, in certain beech 

 forests, near the Lake Seaffajolo, situated on the most elevated summit of 

 the Apennines. (Travels in the Two Sicilies.) It is easy to recognise, 

 from his account, that those animals, to which he gives the name of Moles, 

 have no relation whatever with this genus, and are, in all probability, 

 field-mice. 



Pallas saw, repeatedly, the species of the common Mole, in the Canton 

 of Kouschwa, not far from the Tyrol mountains. Those Moles are larger 

 in breadth than the European, and almost all the individuals are white. 



