MAMMALIA — ARMADILLO. 



269 



fore legs. ' Come, poor fellow,' said I to him, ' if thou hast got into a 

 hobble to day, thou shalt not suffer for it; I'll take no advantage of thee in 

 misfortune ; the forest is large enough both for thee and me to rove in ; go 

 thy ways up above, and enjoy thyself in these endless wilds ; it is more 

 than probable thou wilt never have another interview with man. So, fare 

 thee well.' On saying this, I took up a large stick which was lying there, 

 held it for him to hook on, and then conveyed him to a high and stately 

 mora. He ascended with wonderful rapidity, and in about a minute he was 

 almost at the top of the tree. He now went oft* in a side direction, and 

 caught hold of the branch of a neighboring tree ; he then proceeded towards 

 the heart of the forest ; I stood looking on, lost in amazement at his singular 

 mode of progress. I followed him with my eye till the intervening branches 

 closed in betwixt us ; and then I lost sight forever of the two-toed sloth. I 

 was going to add, that 1 never saw a sloth take to his heels in such earnest; 

 but the expression will not do, for the sloth has no heels." 



THE SIX-BANDED ARMADILLO.! 



Under the general name of armadillo, we may reckon several species 

 which seem to us really distinct; in all of them the animal is protected by 

 a crust resembling bone ; it covers the head, the neck, the back, the flanks, 

 the buttocks, and the tail to the very extremity. This crust is covered out- 

 wardly by a thin skin, sleek and transparent ; the only parts that are not 

 sheltered by this buckler, are the throat, the breast, and the belly, which 

 presents a white grainy skin, like that of a plucked fowl ; and, in consider- 

 ing these parts with attention, you will perceive the appearance of scales 

 which are of the same substance as the crust. This crust is, however, not 



1 Dasypus scxcinctus, Lin. The genus Dasyjms has two upper and four lower incisors, 

 sometimes none ; molars varying in the several species from twenty-eight to sixty-eight, 

 simple, cylindrical, separate, without enamel on the inner side; headlong; mouth and 

 eyes small; body enveloped in a hard scaly shell in three compartments covering the 

 head, body, and tail, with moveable transverse bands between them ; five toes on the hind 

 feet ; four or five on the fore feet, with long nails for digging. 



