DARWIN 113 



1,- world came to our own day. At that time 



the armour of the ^antie, armadillo, tho ^lyptodon, 



that had formed shelters over the heads of tho 

 h in nan dwellers in the pampas, like Esquimaux 

 Imls, had not yet been discovered. The cave of 

 Ultima Esperanza in Patagonia had not been 

 soarohod, and no one; lui.d seen tho red-haired ooat 

 of the sloth as large as an ox, the grypotherium 

 (a relative of the real megatherium), cut by some 

 pr< 'historic human hand, amongst a heap, several 

 yards deep, of the animal's manure in such pecu- 

 liar circumstances as to prompt tho suggestion that 

 the giant-sloths had been kept tame in the cavern, 

 La in a cyclopean stable, by prehistoric Indians. 

 I )arwin thought tho remains were very old, though 

 lihi .; by no means lessened the inspiration. 



As our geological Hamlet speculated over these 

 hoiM :; of extinct monsters, the ideas of Linn6 and 

 (luvior struggled fiercely in his mind with the 

 new, heretiVnl ideas inspired by Lyell. How was 

 it. U iat these ancient, extinct animal forms of 

 America resembled in every detail and in the most 



marked charaeteristieH eertain living Amoriojin 



animals? Before him were the relics of past 



lilntln, armadilloes, :md ",i;m!, llamas. In tho Mutual 



America, also, there were sloths, armadilloes, and 

 llamas, though with some difference. And no- 

 where olso on earth, either in past or present 

 time., worn t/horo sloths, armadilloes, and llamas. 

 Olivier had replied, (iod lr:d pleased to ereai.n 

 th()H(^ n.iicieiil, mc^;i,l,h(iria, ^lypiodoim, MJK! ma- 



crouchenias of America. Then, one day, he sent 



8 



