164 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF MAMMA.LTA. 



they will acquire confidence and become tame in the 

 course of a day after captivity. They sit in a crouching 

 posture, like the chinchilla, and are extremely cleanly, 

 frequently rubbing; their faces with their fore-paws after 

 the manner of rabbits, and scratching their fur with their 

 hinder claws. They run by short leaps ; and sleep 

 stretched out at full length. 



ORDER EDENTATA, Cuv. 



(Bruta, Linn.). 



This order, which contains the Sloths, the extinct Me- 

 gatherium and Mylodon, the Armadillo, the Pangolin, 

 and the Ant-eater, appears at a first glance to be less 

 natural than upon careful analysis it is proved to be. 

 Several important links indeed, the absence of which left 

 voids in the chain, have fortunately been recovered, their 

 fossil relics restored, and the species assigned to their 

 true place. In this philosophic labour Professor Owen 

 has rendered to science the most important service, and 

 his work, entitled ' A Description of the Skeleton of an 

 extinct gigantic Sloth,' but which is in fact an elaborate 

 analysis of the structure and affinities of the megatherioid 

 quadrupeds in general, is a monument of research and 

 acumen. 



With respect to the term Edentata (toothless animals), 

 it must be taken in a qualified sense. The ant-eaters 

 and pangolins are indeed destitute of teeth, but the other 

 genera possess these organs with certain limitations as to 

 number, and of peculiar structure, wanting both the 

 neck part and enamel. Without further preface we may 

 observe that the Edentata resolve themselves into two 

 great sections, namely. Leaf-eaters, and Insect or Flesh 

 eaters. These sections, from their respective habits, 

 have been termed by Desmarest Tardigrada, or slow- 

 paced, and Effodientia, or diggers : but to these terms, 

 as they are not universally applicable to the species they 

 include, there are some objections. 



