14 TALPID^— TALPA 



work is on the whole a trustworthy record of Le Court's 

 observations, although here and there the writer has allowed 

 considerable play to his imagination. 



Le Court's studies attracted the attention of the celebrated 

 naturalist Etienne Geoffroy, who visited him for the purpose of 

 ascertaining the truth and extent of his discoveries, and sub- 

 sequently copied most of de Vaux's essay for his own work, 

 published in 1829/ Geoffroy's account of the animal may be 

 divided into two parts, in one of which he reproduced de Vaux ; 

 in the other he published the results of his own anatomical 

 studies. The former, in which the imaginative parts unfortun- 

 ately occupy a prominent position, has been the happy hunting- 

 ground of most subsequent writers ; the latter, although interest- 

 ing and valuable, has been frequently ignored. Verification of 

 de Vaux's statements has been but seldom attempted, but 

 Bingley's account of the animal may be mentioned as still 

 readable and instructive. An extraordinary and amusing, but 

 original, treatise is that of the Rev. James Grierson, who, 

 writing in 182 1 to 1822, transcribed the information imparted 

 to him by a mole-catcher.^ 



A great many of the myths surrounding the natural history 

 of the Mole were exploded by Mr Adams's classical paper, the 

 results of four years' study in the neighbourhood of Stafford. 

 This paper will no doubt for long form the model of future 

 accounts of the animal. 



The Mole is essentially a burrowing animal, spending nearly 

 all its time under-ground, and feeding, almost but not exclusively, 

 on the earthworms which it meets in its tunnelling. It follows 

 that its form and limbs are highly specialised for the fulfilment 

 of a peculiar existence, from the ordinary routine of which there 

 is but little variation, and which is accompanied by curious and 

 interesting instincts. 



The general form of the body is calculated to facilitate its 

 rapid progress through the subterranean passages which form 

 its habitual routes between the different parts of its domain. 



' Cours de I'Hisioire Naturelle des Mammiflres (Paris, 1829). 



2 " Some Observations on the Natural History and Habits of the Mole," by the 

 Rev. James Grierson, M.D., M.W.S., Minister of Cockpen, in Mem. Wemerian Soc, 

 IV., i., 218-236, 1821-22. 



