The nest of the hedgehog is said to be very skillfully prepared, and the female is a particularly watchful mother. A touching incident is related which proves the strength of maternal instinct in these creatures; a nest of small hedgehogs lay in a garden, whence every evening the mother passed by a gate into an adjoining copse in search of food for her young. On one occasion the gate was accidentally closed at an earlier hour than usual, and the poor creature so exhausted herself with fruitless anxiety, and efforts to reach her little ones, that she died before morning, and was found lying lifeless close to the gate. The flesh of the hedgehog is still eaten in some parts of Europe; it is roasted or baked in pies. In olden times not only the spines of this animal were used medicinally, but wise practitioners declared that “oil in which one of its eyes has been fried, if kept in a brass vessel, will endow the human eye with the faculty of seeing as well by night, as in the day.” NOTE S. THE SHREW, page 104. These little creatures, resembling mice in their general appearance, are yet entirely distinct from them, as the cat is well aware, if many human beings are not. Puss has never been known to eat a shrew. In Europe these singular little animals are very common in the fields, and about old walls, heaps of stone, &c. They feed on insects, worms, &c., while the true mice are not insectivorous, but are classed with the rodent order. NOTE T. THE MOLE, (_talpa Europea_) p. 104. This animal, so very common in most countries of Europe, is said to have no existence in America. It is at least still a subject of dispute among naturalists whether the true mole of Europe be found on this continent or not. This creature, with whose name, at least, we are all familiar, has been supposed to be blind; but the notion is erroneous. Eyes are not wanting in the mole, but they are small, buried in the fur, and by a peculiar muscular contrivance they can be pushed forward, or drawn within, so as to be protected from particles of earth. The hearing of the mole is particularly acute, although it has no external shell to the ear. Its sense of smell is also particularly good. It feeds chiefly upon earth- worms, but also eats mice, rats, frogs, lizards, and its appetite is voracious. The subterranean domains of these creatures are extensive and various in their character, their runs, or galleries, being generally about five or six inches below the surface, though often reaching to thrice that depth. They are nocturnal, like so many of the creatures which people the earth; and they are as active in winter as in summer.