186 EDENTATA. 
range of the genus. It must not be forgotten that the number of cervical vertebre has 
been known to vary in Bradypus*. 
Hoffmann’s Sloth may be described as being of a more or less uniform brown colour, 
but varying much in depth of colour. The long hairs are often tipped with white, 
especially on the nape and back; and the face is whitish, with a dusky spectacle-mark 
round and between the eyes. It attains a length of about twenty-two inches. 
1. Cholopus hoffmanni. | 
? Cholepus didactylus, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1856, p. 189 (nec Linnzeus ?) am 
Cholepus hoffmanni, Peters, Monatsb. Ak. Berlin, 1858, p. 128 (descr. orig.) ?; op. cit. 1864, p. 678° ; 
Frantzius, Arch. f. Naturg. xxxv. 1, p. 312*; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1869, p. 602°; op. cit. 1872, 
p. 861, pl. Ixxii.°; Gray, P. Z.S. 1871, p. 482"; Hand-list Edent. &c. Mamm. p. 2°. 
Perico lijero of Costa-Ricans*. 
Hab. Costa Rica (Hoffmann, Frantzius, Carmiol, Mus. Berol.1*); (Salvin, Carmiol, Mus. 
Brit.7); Panama (Gilman, Viv. Zool. Soc.*), Chiriqui (Bridges'), Veragua (Boucard, 
Mus. Brit.)—Sovutu, America to Ecuador. 
As has been already seen, this Sloth was described by Professor Peters from speci- 
mens collected by Drs. Hoffmann and v. Frantzius in Costa Rica, and its range has 
been shown by Mr. Thomas to extend southwards to Ecuador. In the former. country 
Dr. v. Frantzius gives us the following account of its habits:—‘ The Sloth is found in 
the high-lying mountain-forests, where it lives in the tops of the trees, and hardly ever 
leaves them, being enabled by its wonderful climbing powers to pass from one tree to 
another. On the ground it is utterly helpless. It subsists on leaves and fruit, and in 
confinement feeds freely on cooked potatoes; all its food is long masticated before being 
swallowed. Its dung resembles that of sheep or goats. Its voice, which is seldom 
heard, is like the bleat of a sheep; if seized it snorts violently. It has remarkable 
power in its claws, with which it can inflict serious wounds, as well as with its canine- 
like molars; I have seen the finger of a young man thus pierced through and through 
at the root of the nail. 
«A female which I saw had only one young one, which hung on to the long fur 
of the mother, and which she thus carried about. 
“The Sloth is a decidedly nocturnal animal; in daylight the pupils of its eyes are 
completely closed, but at night they are so widely opened that the iris can hardly be 
seen; in candle-light they do not re-contract. 
‘“‘The Sloth possesses an extreme tenacity of life, surviving the most severe injuries, 
such as fractures of the skull and penetrative wounds in the chest and belly—as well as 
various poisons in large doses, which only prove fatal after a long time. I found that 
the best way to kill them was with chloroform, which I placed on a sponge or a bit of 
* Rapp, Edentaten (2nd ed.), p. 27; Peters, Monatsb. Ak. Berl. 1864, p. 678. 
