388 VIEW OF THE FAUNA OF BRAZIL 



together with some fragments of a third from Paraguay. 

 Since that time, in consequence of the representations of 

 Sir Woodbine Parish, the English consul-general at Buenos 

 Ayres, excavations have been made along the banks of the 

 river Salado, as also of the stream Villa Nueva, and the 

 lake Las Aveiras, which have furnished fragments of three 

 other skeletons of the same animal, and which have been 

 deposited in the Museum of the Geological Society in 

 I^ondon.' Spix and Martins were the first who gave an 

 account of the existence of fossil remains of Megalonyx in 

 the caverns near the river S. Francisco. To M. Sello are we 

 indebted for the discovery of a gigantic species of Arma- 

 dillo, extracted from the banks of the river Uruguay ; the 

 fossils have been sent to Berlin, and have been described by 

 Dalton ; but as I have not seen his account, I can give no 

 further information of this animal. And finally, I must not 

 omit the extract from a letter addressed to M. de St. Hilaire 

 by Senhor Damasio Larranaga, and published in the second 

 edition of Cuvier's * Recherches,' vol. i. p. 191, in which he 

 announces the discovery of several portions of Megatherium 

 in the republic of Uruguay; which, however, evidently 

 belong to a gigantic species of the Armadillo family, and, 

 as I suspect, to Chlamydotherium gigas. 



The above is a brief account of my predecessors in this 

 line, so far as they have come to my knowledge in my pre- 

 sent retired position. It is sufficient to show that the sub- 

 ject was not new ; the path had already been trodden by 

 several respected naturalists ; and the glimmering of light 

 which their discoveries had scattered over this wide field, 

 were in a high degree calculated to wake the attention of 

 philosophers, and to excite the desire to see these researches 

 extended. It was my fortunate lot to be able to contribute 

 towards the accomplishment of this desire ; but I acknow- 

 ledge with gratitude, that if the facts described in the above 

 pages have at all assisted in extending the boundaries of 

 science, the merit thereof is due to the respected Society 

 whose flattering encouragement gave me energy to overcome 

 the difficulties of the undertaking, and whose generous as- 

 sistance furnished me with the means of conducting my 

 researches on such a scale as could alone lead to the desired 

 results. 



POSTSCRIPT. 



Since the above communication was written, I have re- 

 ceived a present, which, on account of its importance, de- 



1 I believe this to be erroneous ; they are in the Museum of the Col- 

 lege of Surgeons. — Tra>"slator. 



