MAMMALIA. 291 



the fore and hind legs on each side, so that when stretched 

 out, they form a sort of parachute ; this enables the 

 creature to leap to a great distance from tree to tree, 

 and supports it in the air as it goes. The Porcupine 

 (Hystrix cristata), so celebrated for its quills, which supply 

 a sort of defensive armour, is of this order. 



4. The EDENTATA, or Anteaters, have no teeth, but a pe- 

 culiarly shaped tongue, which is covered with viscid mucus, 

 and which they project and retract with great rapidity, 

 causing the Ants and Termites, on which they feed, to 

 adhere to it, and be carried into their mouths. The Great 

 Anteater (Myrmecophaga jubata, fig. 62) is a very extraordi- 



TIG. 62. ANTEATEB, (Myrmecophaga jubata). 



nary animal in appearance ; it has an enormously prolonged 

 nose, and the back is covered with a sort of mane ; the tail, 

 also, is of prodigious size, and very bushy; when this 

 curious animal lies down to sleep, the long snout is thrust 

 under it, and the tail laid across the back, the end of 



172 



