h each other,
but the only entrance into the keep is from the upper gallery,
out of which three passages lead into the ceiling of the keep. It
will be seen therefore that when the mole enters the house from
one of its tunnels, it has first to get into the lower gallery
to ascend thence into the upper gallery, and so descend into the
central chamber. There is, however, another entrance into the keep
from below. A passage dips downward from the centre of the chamber,
and then, taking a curve upwards, opens into one of the larger burrows
or high roads, as they may be fitly termed. It is a noteworthy
fact that the high roads, of which there are several radiating in
different directions, never open into the gallery opposite one
of the entrances into the upper gallery. The mole therefore is
obliged to go to the right or left as soon as it enters the domicile
before it can find a passage to the upper gallery. By the continual
pressure of the moles upon the walls of the passages and roof of
the central chamber, they become quite smooth, hard, and polished,
so that the earth will not fall in, even after the severest storm.

The use of so complicated a series of cells and passages is extremely
doubtful, and our total ignorance of the subject affords another
reason why the habits of this wonderful animal should be better
studied.

About the middle of June the moles begin to fall in love, and are
as furious in their attachments as in all other phases of their
nature. At that time two male moles cannot meet without mutual
jealousy, and they straightway begin to fight, scratching, tearing,
and biting with such insane fury that they seem unconscious
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of anything except the heat of battle. Indeed the whole life of
the mole is one of fury, and he eats like a starving tiger, tearing
and rending his prey with claws and teeth, and crunching audibly
the body of the worm between the sharp points. Magnify the mole
to the size of the lion and you will have a beast more terrible
than the world has yet seen. Though nearly blind, and therefore
incapable of following its prey by sight, it would be active beyond
conception, springing this way and that way as it goes along, leaping
with lightness and quickness upon any animal which it meets, rending
it in pieces in a moment, thrusting its blood-thirsty snout into
the body of its victim, eating the still warm and bleeding flesh,
and instantly searching for fresh prey. Such a creature wo