of the Sloths to their peculiar Mode of Life. 



25 



Bradypiis tridactf/lus, which at the end of two months pined and died ; it fed 

 exchisively on the buds and leaves of a species of Cecropia, a tree having a 

 slender stem of thirty or forty feet long, with horizontal branches, hollow in- 

 ternally, and naked, except at the extremities ; these trees grow only in damp 

 places. Mr. Burchell made use of the upper part of the trunk of one of 

 them, which is merely a hollow tube, as a case for his barometer ; the Sloth 

 ate only the young shoots and terminal buds of the unexpanded leaves, re- 

 jecting the old leaves, on the boughs which were brought to it daily ; it was 

 always perfectly silent, and its countenance and manners were most expressive 

 of melancholy ; it fed by day, and slept much ; being kept in a room, it sate 

 upright upon its short tail, embracing the legs of a chair with all its legs. 

 When wild, it often sleeps in the fork of a tree ; it travels along the branches 

 with its body downwards. The young cling round the body of the mother : 

 see Plate of Bradypus tridactylus, in Prince Maximilian of Neuwied's Animals 

 of Brazil, 1823, livr. 2. 



When resident at Para, near the mouth of the Amazons, Mr. Burchell also 

 kept two full-grown Sloths and a young one of a three-toed species (not Bra- 

 dypus tridactylus, but of nearly similar form and habits,) in a garden inclosed 

 with strong stockades : they were kept tied up to the pillars of a verandah to 

 prevent their escape ; against these pillars they always placed themselves in an 

 erect position, embracing the pillar with all four legs ; when not tied to the 

 verandah, they got up into trees in the garden ; they slept both day and night, 

 always fixing their arms round something or other ; their food, consisting of 

 branches, was brought to them in the verandah; they appeared extremely 

 stupid, and would never come to the food ; they would eat no leaves but those 

 of the Cecropia. 



They did not mount very large trees ; they ascended with their breast press- 

 ing the trunk of the tree, advancing the hind-leg beyond the fore-leg. On the 

 ground they could neither stand nor walk, but lay sprawling on their belly, 

 and dragged, or rather warped themselves along, laying hold of a bunch of 

 grass or a stone with their three claws, which operated like grappling-irons, or 

 rather pincers. All these died in a month or two. In their wild state they are 

 seldom seen, from their colour mingling with the grey foliage of the trees, and 

 from their being so extremely quiet and slow. 



VOL. XVII. 



