53 
QUADRUPEDS. 
Clafs I. ] 
parts which are fmall and taper, enables it to 
pafs with great facility thro’ the earth, that 
the fore-feet had flung behind ; for had each 
part of the body been of equal thicknefs, its 
flight would have been impeded, and its fe- 
curity precarious. 
The flnallnefs of the eyes (which gave oc- 
cafion to the antients to deny it the fenfe of 
fight *.) is to this animal a peculiar happinefs : 
a fmall degree of viflon, is fufficient for an 
animal ever defined to live under ground: had 
thefe organs been larger, they would have 
been perpetually liable to injuries, by the earth 
falling into them; but nature, to prevent that 
inconvenience, hath not only made them very 
fmall, but alfo covered them very clofely w ith 
fur. Anatomifts mention (befides thefe) a 
third very wonderful contrivance for their fe- 
curity ; and inform us that each eye is fur- 
niflied with a certain mufcle, by which the 
animal has power of withdrawing or exerting 
them, according to its exigencies. 
To make amends for the dimnefs of its 
fight, the mole is amply recompenced, by the 
great perfection of two other fenfes, thofe of 
hearing and of fmelling : the firfh gives it no¬ 
tice of the moft diftant approach of danger : 
the other, which is equally exquifite, directs it 
in the midft of darknefs, to its food : the nofe 
alfo, being very long and Render, is w ell form¬ 
ed for thrufting into fmall holes, in fearch of 
the worms and infers that inhabite them. 
Thefe gifts may with reafon be faid to com- 
penfate the defeCt of fight, as they fupply 
in this animal all its wants, and all the pur- 
pofes of that fenfe. Thus amply fupplied as 
it is, with every neceflary accommodation of 
life ; we muft avoid aflenting to that grofs 
obfervation of M. Buffon , and only refer the 
reader to the note, where he may find the 
very words of that author ; and compare 
them with thofe of our illufrrious country¬ 
man, Mr. Ray. % 
The mole breeds in the fpring, and brings 
lour or five young at a time : it makes its 
nefl of mofs, and that always under the largeft 
hillock, a little below the furface of the 
ground. The mole is obferved to be mod; 
adfive, and to call; up moll earth, immediately 
before rain: and in the winter before a thaw; 
becaufe at thofe times the worms and infeCh 
begin to be in motion, and approach the fur- 
face : on the contrary, in very dry weather 
this animal feldom or never forms any hillocks, 
as it penetrates deep after its prey, which at 
fuch feafons retires far into the ground. ' The 
mole fliews great art in (kinning a worm,which 
it always does before it eats it; flopping the 
fkin from end to end, and fqueezing out ail 
the contents of the body. 
Thefe animals do incredible damage in aar- 
£> t) 
dens, and meadows; by loofening the roots of 
plants, flowers, grafs, corn, &c. Mortimer 
fays, that the roots of Palma chrifti and white 
hciiebore ) made into a pafle, and laid ip their 
holes, will deflroy them. They feem not to 
have any enemies among other animals, ex¬ 
cept in ScQtlattd^ where (if we may depend on 
Sir Robert Sibbald ) there is a kind of moufe, 
with a black back, that deflroys moles ~j\ 
The formation of this animal, is fa truly 
wonderful that however well known it may 
feem, we fhould have illuftrated this deferip- 
O 
* La taupe fans etre aveugle, a les yeux ft petits, ft converts 
qu elle ne peut faire grand ufage du fens de la vue : en dedommage- 
ment la nature hi a dome avec magnificence l'ufage du fixieme fens , & c . 
Mr. Ray nv.kes the latter obfervation ; but forms frond it a 
conclufion much more folid and moral. Tejles maximos, parafii- 
tas amplfiimas , novum corpus feminale ab bis diverfum et fipara- 
tum - —penem ctiam facile omnium , ni Jailor , animalium lon- 
gijjmum ex quibus cclligere efi maximum pree reliquis omnibus 
anmahbus voluptatem in coitu, hoc abjcSium et vile animalculum 
percipere, ut habeant quod ipfi invideant, .qui in boefufrentas vitce 
Jure delicias collocant. Railfyn quad. 238, 239. 
•f Sib. Hfi. Scot, part 3. p. 12. 
* Aut oculis capti fodere cubilia talpse. Virg. Georg. 1. 
