MAMMALIA. 395 



could not make liis way through the sand time enough to 

 escape before we landed. As soon as we got up to him he 

 threw himself upon his back, and defended himself in gallant 

 style with his fore legs. ' Come, poor fellow,' said I to him, 

 ' if thou hast got into a hobble to-day, thou shalt not suffer for 

 it. I'll take no advantage of thee in misfortune. The forest 

 is large enough both for me and thee to rove in. Go thy 

 ways up above, and enjoy thyself in these endless wilds; it is 

 more than probable thou wilt never have another interview 

 with man. So fare thee well.' On saying this 1 took a long 

 stick, which was lying there, held it for him to hook on, and 

 then <?onveyed him to a high and stately mora tree. He 

 ascended with wonderful rapidity, and in about a minute he 

 was almost at the top of the tree. He now went off in a side 

 direction, and caught hold of the branches of another tree, 

 proceeding in this manner towards the heart of the forest. 1 

 stood looking on, lost in amazement at this singular mode of 

 progress. I followed him with my eyes till the intervening 

 branches closed in between us, and then 1 lost sight for ever 

 of the two-toed Sloth." 



Among the extinct animals of the present order, is one whose 

 massive skeleton has procured for it the expressive appellation 

 of Megatherium* Its length, including the tail, must have 

 been more than fourteen feet, and its height upwards of eight 

 feet. The thigh bone was twice the thickness of that of the 

 largest Elephant ; the fore-foot must have measured more than 

 a yard in length, and more than twelve inches in width, and 

 was torminati'd by an enormous claw. The width of tlie upper 

 part of the tail could not have been less than two feet.f Other 

 extinct quadrupeds allied to this in many points of structure 

 have been discovered, and the group deriving a name from its 

 colossal leader, is spoken of as that of the Alegatherioid animals. 

 Their structure and general habits are most ably treated of by 

 Professor Owen, in a memoir upon one species (^MijlodonX ro- 

 bustus). of which the skeleton is now in the splendid nmsinini 

 of the College of Surgeons, "set up" in the attitude shown in 

 the annexed figure {Fig. 313). 



In the course of this volume examples have been adduced 

 of the exercise which the study of natural history gives to the 



* Gr. MegOy great ; therion, a beast. 



+ Dr. Lucklands Bridge water Treatise. Vide also Penny Cyclopaxlia. 



J Gr. mi/le, a null; odous, a tooth. 



