6. Mention has been made of the "high-road." This is so important a portion of the habitation that it cannot be passed over without further notice. By the high-road the mole travels to the various portions of its huntinggrounds, and into it all the smaller passages open. It is much larger than any of the other galleries, and is made very hard and smooth in the interior by the constant friction of the mole's body. The method of construction differs from that of the other galleries. These are made by excavation, the earth being thrown up every now and then, and forming the well-known molehills; but the high-road is made principally by the pressure of the mole's body, just as a stake makes a hole if driven into the earth.

7. Indeed, the two kinds of galleries may be compared to two kinds of mines made by engineers in besieging a city; the one being made by digging out the earth, and the other by exploding small quantities of gunpowder so as to force the earth away on every side. The great size of the passage is partly to be accounted for by the constant going of the mole to and from its fortification.

8. The passage, although large for a single mole, is not sufficiently large to accommodate two, so that if two moles happen to meet, the weaker always retreats into one of the side-passages that open into the high-road, and permits the other to pass. This is not an infrequent occurrence; for although two moles do not use the same hunting-grounds, yet several often make use of the same high-road. Whenever a mole happens to stray into the hunting-grounds of another, it is instantly attacked by the proprietor if he is within reach; and if one does not take to flight, a furious battle ensues, when the weaker is generally slain.

9. The habitation thus described belongs to the mole himself, while his mate lives in a distinct edifice, generally situated at some distance from the fortress, and constructed at the point where two or more passages intersect. The earth being thrown out forms a hill much larger than the ordinary mounds, and nearly equaling that in which the fortress is constructed.

10. For a long time it was believed that the mole was destitute of vision. It was pretended that nature, by a whimsical exception, had refused to give eyes to this subterranean dweller because it did not require them. This error was exposed by Saint-Hilaire, who discovered in the mole two black eyes, nearly imperceptible, it is true, and deeply buried in the somber fur, a circumstance which had misled other observers. Certain anatomists, stubbornly clinging to their opinion, then pretended that the eyes of the mole were only rudimentary organs, and quite unfit for vision. But ingenious experiments have demonstrated that the mole possesses, to a certain degree, the sense of sight. This sense, it is true, is exercised imperfectly, but that it exists can no longer be doubted.

1. THE gentle, graceful animal called the shrew seems to have been designed by nature as a parody in miniature of the elephant; for the huge, earth-shaking beast and this

mite of a creature agree in this, that each has an elongated nose, or proboscis. The largest of animals and the smallest of animals are thus brought into a kind of kinship.

2. The elephant shrew is a native of Southern Africa. Perhaps the most remarkable thing in regard to the creature is its size, or rather its want of size, - for, head and body, it measures less than four inches in length. The peculiarly long nose of the elephant shrew is perforated at its extremity by the nostrils, which are obliquely placed, and is supposed to aid the animal in its search after the insects and other creatures on which it feeds. eyes are rather large in proportion to the size of the animal. The tail is long and slender, much resembling the same organ in the common mouse, and in some specimens is furnished at the base with glandular follicles, or little sacks.

The

3. The legs are nearly of equal size; but the hinder limbs are much longer than the fore legs, on account of the very great length of the feet, which are capable of affording

support to the creature as it sits in an upright position. As might be presumed from the length of the hinder limbs, the elephant shrew is possessed of great locomotive powers, and, when alarmed, can skim over the ground with such celerity that its form becomes quite obscured by the rapidity of its movement through the air.

4. Although the elephant shrew is a diurnal animal, seeking its prey in broad daylight, its habitation is made below the surface of the ground, and consists of a deep and tortuous burrow, the entrance to which is a perpendicular shaft of some little depth. To this place of refuge the creature always flies when alarmed; and, as it is so exceedingly swift in its movements, it is not readily captured or intercepted. WOOD. Adapted.

52. THE HEDGEHOG.

al'i-ment, food, nutriment.

e-lü'ci-date, explain, make clear. in-dict'ment [-dit], accusation. in-tim'i-dat-ed, frightened.

noc-tur'nal, night-feeding.
or'i-fice [-fis], opening.
pêr-pe-tră-tor, a doer.
spine, a rigid spike.

1. THE hedgehog owes its name to the singular texture of its hair, which consists of real spines, capable of being thrown erect at the will of the animal, and fixed into the skin in a very beautiful and simple manner. Its body is elongated, the limbs are very short, and the paws have each five toes, armed with comparatively feeble claws. Its eyes are small, and their range of vision limited. The tail is bare, thin, and very short.

2. When the hedgehog is annoyed it rolls itself up, and the tightness of the skin causes all its spines to stand firm and erect, bidding defiance to an unprotected hand.

While rolled up, even the dog and the fox are at first baffled by it; but their ingenuity enables them to overcome the difficulty by rolling it along until they push it into a puddle or pool, when the astonished hedgehog immediately unrolls itself to see what is the matter, and before it can roll itself up again is seized by its crafty enemy.

3. During the winter the hedgehog lives in a torpid state, in a hole well lined with grass and moss, and when discovered looks like a round mass of leaves, as it has rolled itself among the fallen foliage which adheres to its spines. It is a nocturnal animal, and remains concealed the greater portion of the day in holes, either beneath stones, in de