132 



ANT-EATER. 



hairy covering of the edentata, whatever may be ! 

 their other characters, always has some resem- 

 blance to the substance of scales, or rather per- j 

 haps to baleen, or, as it is improperly called, ' 

 whalebone. This holds, whether the animals have | 

 grinders, or are wholly toothless, and also what- 

 ever may be the country or the situation of their 

 residence. The sloths which inhabit trees, and 

 never come to the ground if they can avoid it ; 

 the ant-eaters which never climb ; the echnida of 

 New Holland which burrow in the ground, and 

 the ornithorynchus of the same country, which in- 

 habits pools 'of water ; all have the hair flat or 

 tubular, or in some way less apparently connected 

 with the living part of the animal, and more 

 withered and dead to appearance than the hair of 

 the toothed mammalia. 



But the ant-eaters have many peculiarities of 

 structure which are well worthy of attention ; nay, 

 in some respects, they have a slight resemblance 

 to the human subject. The females have the 

 mammae 011 the breast, and two in number ; and 

 though the animals walk upon all fours, it is the 

 hind feet only that can be properly regarded as 

 walking feet. These are strictly plantigrade, that 

 is, the whole length of the tarsus or foot bone 

 comes to the ground, and so affords a very broad 

 and firm base. The first joint above the ground 

 is a forward bending one, or true knee ; and the 

 toes, whatever may be their number, have all their 

 phalanges united ; and the claws on these are small 

 and weak. They are thus slow-walking feet ; but not 

 adapted for climbing, leaping, or any other function. 

 The fore-feet are very different, and their struc- 

 ture shows that walking is only one of their secondary 

 uses. The number of toes varies in the different 

 species ; but they are always fewer on the fore- 

 feet than on the hind. The form of the fore-feet 

 resembles that of small rakes or pronged hoes ; 

 and as such they are awkward in walking. The 

 phalanges of the toes are united in these as well 

 as in the hind feet ; but they are armed with much 

 larger and more formidable claws. These claws 

 are, in repose, folded inward upon the palm, by the 

 action of elastic ligaments ; and even when they 

 come into use, they do not open beyond a right 

 angle to the line of the palm. Thus they form 

 an instrument which is very peculiar, but which is 

 admirably adapted to the habits of the animal ; and 

 which, in turning over the mould with ease and speed, 

 is superior to our garden rakes and pronged hoes. 



When, however, it comes to be used for walk- 

 ing, it is not so convenient. From the position of 

 the claws (which, though intended for a very dif- 

 ferent purpose, bear some resemblance to that in 

 the sloths), the animals cannot walk on the palms 

 of the fore-feet ; and besides, its so walking would 

 speedily blunt and wear the claws, the only instru- 

 ments on which the animal has to depend for 

 unearthing its food. It therefore walks on the 

 outsides of these feet ; and as they do not apply 

 well in that position, its walk is slow. Even when 

 driven to a trot, it moves with difficulty, anc 

 slower than the ordinary walk of most animals 

 Walking, except at its ordinary stealthy pace, is 

 not, however, an operation essential to its mode o 

 life, for which it is as admirably adapted as the 

 fleetest animal that scours the plain or bounds 

 from cliff to cliff. 



The bodies of all the species are long, the 

 heads long, and the tails very long. The propor- 

 tions and uses of the parts will be most clearly 

 and briefly stated in a notice of the largest species 

 which has the peculiar characters of the genus 

 in greatest perfection. That species is the great 

 ant-eater ( Myrmccophnga jubata). 



Great Ant-Eater. 



This species is a large animal. The head from 

 he point of the snout to the ears is about thirteen 

 nches, thence to the insertion of the tail nearly 

 ;hree feet and a half, and the tail nearly two feet 

 and a half in the solid, and a foot more to the 

 joints of the hair. The whole length is thus 

 about eight feet. The height is about three feet 

 three at the shoulder, but half a foot less at the 

 croup. The hair, excepting on the head, where it is 

 short and close, is shaggy, and dry like that of the sloths. 

 The month is small and the tongue slender, but re- 

 markable for its length. It is in the form of a worm. 

 When in repose it folds back within the mouth ; but 

 it is protrusile to the length of at least eighteen 

 inches beyond the snout ; and the celerity with which 

 it can be protruded and retracted forms a remarkable 

 contrast with the sluggish locomotion of the animal. 

 This celerity of motion in the tongue is, however, just 

 as necessary for a large animal which feeds on such 

 small food as ants, as swifter progressive motion 

 would be unnecessary. The tongue is covered by a 

 viscid secretion, by which the ants are captured ; and 

 as it is laid over them, they are rubbed off against the 

 palate when the tongue is doubled back into the mouth. 

 In order to understand how the parts of this rather 

 singular organisation work, we must suppose that the 

 animal has arrived at the side of an ant-hill, or other 

 burrow of social insects ; and that he is hungry and 

 inclined to feed. There is every reason to believe 

 that his sense of smell is acute, as is generally the 

 case with long-snouted animals, and that in imme- 

 diately feeding he is fully as much guided by that as 

 by the sight of his small eyes. Well, he arrives at 

 the ant-hill, his broad hind feet forming a firm base, 

 and his long tail balancing him on those feet as on a 

 pivot. The fore-foot i? then extended to its utmost 

 stretch, but in its general position, awl with the claws 

 curving a little backwards. In this species, the claws 

 on the fore feet are four in number ; the first and 

 fourth smaller, but the second two inches, and the 

 third two inches and a half in length, strong in pro- 

 portion, and grooved on their posterior'surfaces. The 

 stroke of the foot plunges these into the ant-hill up 

 to the roots ; and the animal pulls the foot home, 

 tearing a rugged furrow in the insect earth. The 

 ants, as is their habit, instantly come to the breach in 

 numbers; and while they are in agitation there, the 

 tongue is protruded over them and withdrawn at the 



