NATURAL HISTORY. 137 



" It is remarkable that man, who is endowed with reason, is 

 born without armature, and is destitute of many powers which 

 irrational creatures have in a much higher degree than he." 



DERHAM. 



account of naturalists not having given a description of him when he was in the 

 only position in which he ought to have been described namely, clinging to tki 

 branch of a tree."* 



416. Why is the armadillo so called? 



The name, which was given to these animals by the Spaniards, 

 means "clad in armour," and refeis to the singular covering with 



which nature has provided 

 them. It consists of a trian- 

 gular or oval plate on the top 

 of the head, a large buckler 

 over the shoulders, and a 

 similar buckler over the 

 haunches, while between these solid portions there intervenes a 

 series of transverse bands or shelly zones, which accommodate this 

 coat of mail to the various postures of the body ; the tail also 

 is covered by a series of calcareous rings ; and the animal 

 altogether exhibits a striking deviation from the usual structure 

 and outward appearance of quadrupeds. 



417. What are the most striking indications in the form of the 

 animal of adaptability to its mode of life ? 



The stiffness given to the neck and to the whole spinal column 

 by the iunnour, and the bearing of the processes of the vertebrae 

 against that, evidently enables the armadillo to push forward into 

 the earth, so as to keep itself advanced to the full action of the 

 claws in burrowing downwards in an oblique manner, which it does 

 with very great rapidity, so fast, indeed, as almost to elude pur- 

 suit ; for as he gets the body buried, it takes so powerful a hold of 

 the earth, that the tail may be pulled away, without bringing out 

 the animal. 



In these cases it is probable that it holds on with the whole 

 body, and not merely with the feet. While digging, the legs are 

 not stretched, so that when it raises itself upon these, the body 

 is brought into firm contact with the upper part of the 



Waterton's "Wanderings," page 283. 



