MAMMALIA. 335 



Paraguay. Sir Woodbine Parish, in 1832, obtained from 

 the bed of the Salado, portions of a skeleton which are now 

 in the College of Surgeons. The height of this gigantic 

 mammal was nearly that of an elephant, and larger than the 

 rhinoceros. Its skull resembled that of the sloth, and is 

 small when compared with the bulk of the body : its jaws 

 are without incisors and canines; it had molars, to the 

 number of ^., of a prismatic form, from seven to nine 

 inches in length, and deeply and solidly imbedded in their 

 sockets. Like the molars of the elephant, they are com- 

 posed of dentine, enamel, and cement. These elements are 

 so disposed that the wearing of each crown forms two 

 triangles, which interlock into corresponding spaces in 

 the opposing jaw. The mouth was an engine of enormous 

 power, adapted for bruising roots or other vegetable sub- 

 stances. It had ponderous extremities, armed with claws. 

 Its hind-legs were far more colossal than those of the 

 elephant, and its tail so far exceeded, in the dimensions of 

 its vertebrae, the size of that organ in other mammals, that 

 it is supposed it was used with the hind-legs to form a 

 tripod for supporting the animal, whilst the fore-limbs were 

 employed for digging. It possessed clavicles, and could use 

 the anterior extremities. It has been observed by Dr. 

 Buckland,* that " his entire frame was an apparatus of 

 colossal mechanism, adapted exactly to the work it had to 

 do ; strong and ponderous in proportion as this work was 

 heavy, and calculated to be the vehicle of life and enjoy- 

 ment to a gigantic race of quadrupeds, which, though they 

 have ceased to be counted among the living inhabitants of 

 our planet, have, in their fossil bones, left behind them im- 

 perishable monuments of the consummate skill with which 

 they were constructed. Each limb and fragment of a limb 

 forming co-ordinate parts of a well-adjusted and perfect 

 whole ; and through all their deviations from the form and 

 proportion of the limbs of other quadrupeds, affording fresh 

 proofs of the infinitely varied and inexhaustible contrivances 

 of Creative Wisdom." 



Mylodon had the ponderous body of the Megatherium. 

 A fine skeleton of M. robustus is in the museum of the 

 College of Surgeons. 



* Biidgewater Treatise, p. 164. 



