THE GREAT ANTEATER 207 



in the Royal College of Surgeons' Museum in 

 London.^ It may here be mentioned that a valuable 

 memoir on the eye of the great anteater appeared in 

 \h^Jott7-nalde l' Anatomie for November- December, 

 1867, written by M. George Pouchet and Dr. 

 Theodor Leber, Chief of the Clinic of Professor 

 Graefe, the celebrated oculist of Berlin, 



Thus much for the physical characters of the 

 tamanoir ; as for its psychical attributes it may be 

 mentioned that practical naturalists have found it, 

 like the mild-eyed giraffe, to be an uncertain and 

 even dangerous pet. The late Mr. A. D. Bartlett 

 has described how he went to inspect an anteater 

 that was kept loose in a garden, and how the shaggy 

 brute unexpectedly turned on him, forcing him to 

 beat a hasty retreat ; an animal that is said to be 

 able to kill a jaguar and rip open a dog is no 

 despicable antagonist. Taken young, however, this 

 quaint creature can be readily tamed, and will even 

 whine to be caressed ; it shows marked attachment 

 to individuals, and frolics like a puppy. A very fine 

 and tame pair of anteaters were living in Herr 

 Adolph N ill's private collection at Stuttgart some 

 years ago, and the female gave birth to a young 

 one — probably the first ever born in captivity. 



1 Contrary to the error promoted by liuifon, the saliva of tlie anteater 

 is not more viscid than that of otlier animals. It dries ?r/j(w//y without 

 leaving any stain on the object to which it has been applied. Unfor- 

 tnnatelv, dharles Waterton in I8.S0 revived tiie error by statinjf that the 

 saliva " when Avet is very clammy and adliesive," a conclusion with 

 which, after experiment, the present writer cannot agree. 



