NATURAL HISTORY. 



183 



Family IV. Bradypidas (Gr. Bpadi'f, slow ; 7rov$, a foot.) 



BRADYPUS. 



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Tridactylus (Gr. TpiduK-v/.o^ three-fingered), the Sloth. 



The Edentata include the ant-eaters and the pangolins which 

 possess no teeth at all, and the sloths, armadillos, &cc., whose 

 teeth are small and of peculiar structure. 



The SLOTHS form the first division of the Edentata the 

 leaf-eaters. 



The Sloth or A'i is another example of the errors into which 

 even great naturalists are led from hasty observation. The 

 great Cuvier himself condemns the Sloth as a degraded and 

 miserable animal, moving with pain, and misshapen in form. 

 Yet no animal is more fitted for its position than the Sloth. 

 " The Sloth," says "Waterton, " in its wild state spends its 

 whole life in the trees, and never leaves them but through 

 force or accident, and what is more extraordinary, not upon 

 the branches, like the squirrel and monkey, but under them. 



