5 2 
[ Clafs I. 
quadrupeds. 
my, had not providence guarded it with a 
ftrong covering ; and a power of rolling itfelf 
into a ball; by that means fecuring the de- 
fencelefs parts. The barbarity of anatomifts 
furnifhes us with an amazing inftance of its 
V,) 
patience \ one that was difte£led alive, and 
whole feet were nailed down to the tablej 
endured that, and every ftroke of the opera¬ 
tor’s knife, without even one groan. * 
* Clavis terebrari fibi pedes et difcindi vifcera patientiffime fe- 
rebat; omnes culm idu fine gemitu plufquam fpartana nobilitate 
concoquens. Borrich in Bias. deEcbino. Derham. Phyf. Tbeol. 240. 
GENUS XVIII. The MOLE. 
SPECIES I. The MOLE. 
The Mole, Mold-Warp, or Want. 
Rail fyn. quad. 236. 
Spotted Mole. Edw. 268. 
Meyer's an. I. Tab. 2. 
Talpa alba noftras. Seb. Mus. I. 
p. 61. Tab. 32. £ 1, 
Sib. Scot. 11. 
Gefiler quad. 931. 
Talpa caudata nigricans pedibus 
Britijh, Gwadd, Twrch daear 1 
French , Taupe i N A 
Italian , Talpa | 
Spanijh , Topo 
anticis et pofticis pentadadylis. 
Brififon quad. 279. 
Buff on. 8- 81. Tab. 12. 
Talpa europaeus. T. caudata, 
pedibus pentadactylis. Lin. 
fiyft. 52. 
Faun. fuec. 17* 
Talpa. Klein quad. 60* 
Portug. Toupeira 
German , Mulwerf 
5 5 " Dutch , Mol 
Swedifh , Mulvad, Surk 
T HERE are many animals in which 
the divine wifdom may be more 
agreably illuftrated, yet the uni¬ 
formity of its attention to every article of the 
creation,even the moft contemptible, by adapts 
ing the parts to its deftined courfe of life, ap¬ 
pears more evident in the mole than in any 
other animal. 
the ufe as well as form of hands 5 to Icoop 
out the earth, to form its habitation, or to 
purfue its prey. Had they been longer, the 
falling in of the earth would have prevented 
the quick repetition of its ftrokes in working, 
or have impeded its courfe : the oblique po¬ 
rtion of the fore-feet, has alfo this advantage, 
that it flings all the loofe foil behind the ani¬ 
mal. 
A fubterraneous abode being allotted to it, 
the feeming defefts of feveral of its parts, va- 
nifh; which, inftead of appearing maimed, or 
unfinifhed, exhibit a moft ftriking proof of the 
htnefs of their contrivance, 
The breadth, ftrength, and fhortnefs of the 
fore-feet, which are inclined fideways, anfwer 
The form of the body is not lefs admirably 
contrived for its way of life : the fore part is 
thick and very mufcular, giving great ftrength 
to the a£tion of the fore-feet; enabling it to 
dig its way with amazing force and rapidity, 
either to purfue its prey, or elude the fearch of 
the moft aaive enemy. The form of its hind 
parts 
