2IO NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



careful protection from the muggy climate of 

 Europe : whilst the task of providing proper 

 food for them, especially on the voyage, is a 

 tax on the ingenuity of the most accomplished 

 naturalist. The American species consist of the 

 great anteater ( Myrmecopkaga jtibata), the tam- 

 andua anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla), and the 

 two-toed anteater (Cycloturus didactylus). We 

 also include in this category the African ant- 

 bears, for although not closely related to the 

 American forms, they are equally difficult to 

 bring over and to maintain in confinement after 

 arrival. The African anteaters consist of two 

 forms : the Ethiopian ant-bear (Orycteropus aethi- 

 opicus) and the Cape ant-bear (O. afra), known 

 to the Dutch as the Aard Vark. 



The Aard Vark — goup of the Namaquas — 

 takadu of the Basutos — isambane of the Swazis 

 and Zulus — measures from five and a half to 

 six feet from the tip of the snout to the tip of 

 the two foot tail, and stands one foot two inches 

 at the shoulder,^ being about the size of a large 

 pig. The elongated head ends in a swine-like snout : 

 the ears are large and naked : the tapering tongue 

 can be protruded several inches from the mouth, 

 is worm-like and covered with viscid saliva. 

 The neck of the aard vark is very short : the 



1 As no shoulder measurements of the aard vark have hitherto 

 been published, the above is taken from the mounted example in the 

 Manchester Museum. 



