the olfactory apparatus, from following the course which is taken in other animals.

The eye of the mole is very small, in the bulk, at the most, of a grain of millet; in colour, ebony, and hard to the touch. Besides the eye-lid which covers it, it is protected by long hairs, which, crossing one another in all directions, form a thick and closelywoven band.

Why does the breast bone of the mole in shape resemble a plough-share ? Because it may assist the animal in digging under ground.

Why does the fine fur of the mole yield in every direction, and offer no resistance to the touch ?

Because the mole may not be impeded in its retreat, while retiring backwards, as it always does upon suspicion of peril, not turning round, which the size of its runs does not permit, but tail foremost, until it arrives at some collateralgallery, when its flight is head foremost, as with other creatures. If this fur had been strong, as in the rat or mouse, it would doubly have retarded the progress of the creature: first, by its resistance, and then, acting as a brush, so as to choke up the galleries, by removing the loose earth from the sides and ceilings of the arched ways. — Knapp.

Why is the smell of the flesh of the mole remarkably offensive?

Because its sole food is worms.

It is doubtful whether any other animal exists, which is obliged to eat at such short intervals as the mole. Ten or twelve hours appear to be the maximum of its fasting; at the end of that time, it dies. They are essentially carnivorous: Cuvier tells us that if two moles are shut up together without food, there will shortly be nothing left of the weakest, but its skin, slit along the belly.

Why do mole-catchers draw the body of a captured

mole through their traps, and the adjoining runs and passages?

Because they may remove all suspicious odours, which might arise from the touch of their fingers, the mole's sense of smelling being unusually acute. Knapp.

Why do mole-catchers tread lightly when in quest of moles?

Because the feeling of the mole is so acute, that, when casting up the earth, it is sensible of the pressure of a very gentle foot; and unless this caution is used, it ceases from its operation, and instantly retires. - Knapp.

Why are moles said to be beneficial to vegetation ? Because they loosen the soil about the roots of plants. Evelyn and others censure them as injurious; and Buffon accuses them of eating all the acorns of a newly-set soil.

Why are some mole-hills considerably larger than others?

Because the nest or den of the mole is beneath. Why are there no moles in Ireland?

Because, it is supposed, of the dampness of the soil.

THE BEAVER.

Why have beavers very powerful incisor teeth? Because they may strip off and divide the bark of the trees, which forms their principal nutriment, and gnaw through thick trunks to obtain the timber for building their habitations. Their teeth are re-produced from the base as fast as they are worn down at the extremity. By good authority it is stated that a beaver will lop off with his teeth, at a single effort, a stem of the thickness of a common walking-stick, as cleanly as if done by a gardener's pruning-knife. Why has the beaver a long, broad, flat tail? Because it may serve in the water, as a paddle and

a rudder, to urge them onwards and to direct them in their course. The stories of the beaver using its tail as a sledge, and as a trowel, are impositions on the credulous. The tail is altogether unfitted for such operations: for mixing up the mud with the rest of the materials, it employs the fore-paws and the mouth. Sec. Zoolog. Soc.

Why is the winter season preferred for taking beavers? Because the winter coat is far superior to the summer. The skin of the young or cub-beaver is the darkest and most glossy, and consequently the most valuable.

Why was the fur of the beaver universally used, at an early period, for making hats?

Because of a proclamation issued in the year 1638, forbidding the use of any materials in making hats, except beaver stuff or beaver wool.

Why do the hind feet of the beaver turn in?

Because it may keep its fur in order, and cleanse it from dirt and moisture, which the beaver could not do if the toes were straight.

THE SEAL.

Why does the seal see equally well under water, as in air?

Because it can lengthen or shorten the axis of the organ of sight at pleasure, and thus see equally well in two media of very different density, viz, air and water.

Why is a species of seal called the sea-lion?
Because of the lion-like mane of the male.

Why is another species of seal called the sea-elephant?

Because it has a nose resembling the proboscis of the elephant.

Why is the nose of the seal considered by physiologists to be the most perfect nose belonging to the class of quadrupeds ?

Because it has been computed that the smelling surface in the nose of a single seal amounts to the enormous quantity of 240 square inches.

Why is the seal so valuable to the Esquimaux ? Because it furnishes food for his table, oil for his lamp, clothing for his person; even the bones and skins of seals supply materials for his light portable boats, and his summer tents.

Why is the domestication of the seal much easier than that of other animals?

Because its brain is of greater proportionate magnitude than in any other quadruped, and not only does it exhibit in its countenance the appearance of sagacity, but its intelligence is in reality far greater than in most land quadrupeds. It is likewise susceptible of more powerful attachment, and Dr Harwood observes, that, aware of its disposition to become familiar, and this participation in the good qualities of the dog, it is astonishing that mankind have not chosen this intellectual and finely organized quadruped, for aquatic services, scarcely less important than some of those in which the dog is employed on land. - Brande's Journal.

THE ORNITHORYNCUS.

Why is the ornithoryncus called the duck-billed animal?

Because it is distinguished from all mammiferous animals yet known by the unprecedented formation of its jaws, which closely resemble the broad flat bill of a duck, are covered in the saine way with a soft membrane, plentifully supplied with nerves for tasting, and also, like it, serrated at the natural edges. The feet are provided with webs, which, in the front ones, project beyond the claws, and can by that means be folded up or expanded like a fan. No appearance of teats has hitherto been discovered in either sex. This wonderful animal lives near the lakes about Botany Bay, in the fifth part

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of the world, so rich in creatures of remarkable formation.

Blumenbach.

THE WALRUS.

Why is the great walrus able to climb slippery rocks ?
Because its hind feet are constructed upon a me-

chanism resembling cupping-glasses.

Why is the walrus supposed to have been mistaken for a mermaid ?

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Because the front face, when seen at a little distance, has a striking resemblance to the human

countenance.

Why does the walrus lie on the ice of the Arctic regions, without inconvenience ?

Because, as a defence against the extreme cold, it has not only a skin an inch thick, covered with close hair, but a coating of oily fat, completely enveloping the body.

MERMAIDS.

Why is the dugong believed to be the mermaid of early writers?

Because, of all the cetacea it approaches the nearest in form to man; and when its head and breast are raised above the water, and its pectoral fins, resembling hands, are visible, the dugong might easily be taken by superstitious seamen for a semi-human being. The dugong is the only animal yet known that grazes at the bottom of the sea without legs. It is of the form and figure of the whale. The position and structure of the mouth enable it to browse like a cow in a meadow, and the whole structure of the masticating and digestive organs, shows it to live entirely on vegetables. It never comes on the land, or into fresh water, but frequents shallow inlets of the sea of two or three fathoms deep. The length of the dugong is eight or nine feet, and the flesh, when cooked, entirely resembles young and excellent beef.