PHOLIDOTUS. 61 



Head small in proportion. Muzzle conical, and elongated. Scales 

 on the head small, increasing in size on the back of the neck and on 

 the back ; largest in the lumbar region and base of tail with coarse 

 iFulvous bristly hairs issuing from under each. Sides of the face, 

 chin, throat, and under surface of the body sparsely covered with 

 fulvous, stiff bristly hairs. Ears with a slightly raised edge ; no 

 distinct conch. Tail as long as the body. The fully developed foetus, 

 covered with scales like the parent. Middle claw of forefeet about 

 four times the length of the outer. Eyes black. Soles of forefeet smooth 

 and flabby; of hind feet black, tough and spongy. 



Length. — Head and body 26 to 30 inches. 



Hah. — Sind, especially the Southern Districts, Central and South 

 India, Orissa and Bengal; extends to Nepal and Ceylon. Found also 

 in the Deccan. 



This armour-clad creature appears to be very tenacious of life. A 

 live specimen in my possession, which refused food and drink of every 

 kind, lived for nearly three weeks. White and black ants are its favorite 

 food in Sind, for which it burrows from 6 to 1 feet in the ground. It 

 walks with its claws turned inward on the sole of the feet, and when 

 disturbed, rolls itself into a ball. The entire body of this animal 

 especially beneath every scale, is always covered with a small bluish 

 tick. Its flesh is considered aphrodisiac by the natives of Sind, and 

 also of the Deccan. 



