THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
518 
the plan of the house-mouse, but enlarged behind; has very long hind legs, 
adapted for leaping ; internal cheek-pouches, and altogether suggests the kan¬ 
garoo undergoing a transition into a mouse. 
The Mole-like Pocket Rat ( Thomomys talpoides ) is about three-quarters of 
a foot in length, and varies in color from gray to russet, the mouth, feet and 
tail generally being white. It takes its name from being pouched. 
The Rocky Mountain species ( Thomomys clusius ) is noticeable only as a 
member of the pigmy family. 
THE INSECTIVORA. 
With the subsidence of the waters and the perfection and riotous varia¬ 
tions of plant-life, sea and fen, land and air, alike required and were fitted for 
the dominion of the insects, and we should naturally expect as the next 
stage in progression to find a class of animals which will prevent what had 
become the disastrous results of the fecundity of the insects. Nor are we to be 
disappointed, for we find that with the rodents to restrain the extravagance 
of vegetable growth, we have the Insectivora, or Insect-eating Animals, who 
limit the otherwise absolute and tyrannical sway of lower animal forms. Here 
belong the moles , the hedgehogs and the shrews , some species of which will 
be known to all of our readers. 
The insectivora add canine teeth, which are not perennial. The legs are inter¬ 
mediate between those of the rodents and the winged-legs of the bats; the brain 
is less convoluted than that of the rodents, but more highly developed in its 
well-defined direction. 
Perhaps in none of the animal creation, so much as in the Mole ( Talpa 
europea ), is adaptation to the necessities of life so evident. It is insectivorous, 
and, to forage to the best advantage, must do its work underground. Its nose 
and fore paws enable it to burrow with a rapidity which makes its speedy 
disappearance almost spectral. Its rich, thick fur lies equally well in any direc¬ 
tion, and is absolutely proof against defilement from the earth and other sub¬ 
stances with which it comes in contact. Its muscles are abnormally developed 
in the shoulders and fore legs, and rest upon a frame-work stout in proportion. 
Its little eyes are hidden beneath its dense fur and are protruded when under 
unusual circumstances it needs their service. Its sense of hearing and its sense 
of smell are remarkably acute, and its sensibility of touch most exquisite. It 
is a fierce, rapacious little creature, giving the freest play to passions and appe¬ 
tites, which one might rather expect in the case of the leopard and the tiger. It is 
a skilful and ingenious architect, so much so as to justify a description 
of its home. It first constructs quite a large mound or hill. It then makes 
two galleries one running around the hill, near the top, and the other near the 
bottom; these galleries it connects by five passages. It now digs a circular 
hole in the centre of the floor, and unites this to the lower gallery by means 
of three hallways. A large passage is then run from the central pit under the 
lower gallery to the ground outside, and a large but varying number of pas¬ 
sages from the centre to the lower gallery. The pit is the bedroom of the 
mole, although in the warm months it does not use it. When the female builds 
its nest it does not construct it in the house, as described, but in a separate 
mound, connected with the other. The black, soft fur of the mole is sometimes 
used for making purses and pouches, but thus far has not played any large 
part in commerce. 
