THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 233 



one cannot see them. The carnivorous animal bores its 

 victim as if it were boring the earth. 



The mole never gnaws roots; I have opened hundreds 

 without finding one in their stomachs, which, on the con- 

 trary, were always gorged with grubs of the may -bug and 

 earth-worms. This insect-eater is therefore one of our best 

 friends; this is well known where agriculture is intrusted 

 to experienced hands. In such places, and in some vine- 

 yards devastated by these grubs, men buy moles in order 

 to consign to them the destruction of these redoubtable 

 enemies.^ 



Another beneficent mammal, respecting which men have 

 been as much deceived as about the other, is the hedgehog. 



The hedgehog, represented everywhere as a pilferer of 

 our orchards, carrying off apples and pears on its spines 

 to eat them in its retreat, on the contrary never touches 

 any fruit. It is an active flesh-eater, which only feeds on 



^ All those authors who have recently written upon agriculture, or have 

 interested themselves about the mole, such as Eatzeburg, .Joigneaux, and De 

 la Blancbore, consider this animal as of great service to farm husbandry. 

 Eatzeburg, Hijlophtliires; Joigneaux, Le Livre de la Ferine, 1866; De la Blanchere, 

 Les Trois Regnes de la Nature, 1866; "La Taupe," p. 134. Many more erroi-s than 

 we have mentioned have been circulated about the mole. Aristotle and all 

 those who copied from him, not being able to perceive its eyes, believed that it 

 cannot see. Its eyes, deeply hidden by hairs, are, it is true, unsuited for good 

 vision, bnt it is evident that the mole can see with them. Le Court, the chief 

 of the mole-catchers in France, even says that he has seen it swim aci'oss rivers 

 guided only by its sight. 



The existence of the mole is a series of paradoxes. The cleanliness of its 

 fur, for instance, is really marvellous; though it is alw.ays buried in the earth 

 or the mud which invades its subterranean dwelling, yet, wlien we withdraw it, 

 its coat is beautifully fresh, unsoiled with spot or dust. This silky robe has 

 often tempted those in search of new frivolities. Some ladies of the court of 

 Louis XV., having a fancy to match it with the patches, rouge, and paint, with 

 which they covered their faces, conceived the whimsey of having eyebrows of it; 

 whilst the courtiers of this prince collected masses of moleskin to have their 

 dresses made of them. But all they got was dress of a costly kind and of a very 

 disagreeable smell, so that the fashion soon died out. 



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