ARMADILLO. 



19',) 



bably not to the same extent, as the gizzard of birds 

 This gizzard structure has not been observed in al 

 the species, because they have not all been dissectec 

 with the same care : but it is probable that it may 

 vary be less in the ones that feed most upon anima 

 substances. Nay, it may vary in the same species 

 jnst as the stomachs of birds vary so as to adap: 

 themselves to different kinds of food, when habitu- 

 ated to these exclusively. A certain degree o 

 adaptation in the stomach in this way, is common, i 

 not universal, among animals ; and it is one of those 

 wise provisions of nature, by which races are pre- 

 vented from perishing, when, by any casualty, the 

 supply of their natural food is reduced below the 

 quantity which they require. 



Though the head of the armadilloes varies in the 

 different species, it may be considered as in genera! 

 small, and narrow and produced at the snout. The 

 nostrils are terminal, and the sense of smelling 

 understood to be very acute. The eyes are small, 

 but perfect in their formation, and, in some of the 

 species at least, furnished with a third eyelid or nic- 

 titating membrane. The tongue is soft, and though 

 it is but little extensile, and cannot be projected 

 beyond the mouth, like that of the ant-eater, it may 

 assist in the capture of ants and other small prey, as 

 the saliva is ot a peculiarly viscid nature, and ob- 

 viously better fitted for assisting in the capture of the 

 food than in the preparation of it for the stomach. 

 Indeed, the incapacity of masticating renders saliva 

 unnecessary for the latter purpose. The teeth have 

 been already noticed, they are all of the same charac- 

 ter, and cannot be described as answering to any of 

 the three sets of teeth in ordinary mammalia, as they 

 have as much resemblance to the teeth of reptiles 

 or fishes, though they differ also from these. Like 

 these, also, some of them have teeth upon the inter- 

 maxillary bones, as well as in theja\vs. It has been 

 remarked, that they are not adapted for cutting or 

 bruising, and they are just as unfit for tearing. Hence 

 the animals ncver.'even in defence of their lives, show 

 the least disposition to bite. They do not appear 

 to be capable of dividing any thing but a pulpy sub- 

 stance which has no toughness ; and that may be the 

 reason why, though the)' are fond of the flesh of large 

 animals, they never attempt to eat it till it is putrid. 

 In this respect they bear some analogy to the alli- 

 gators, which always bury their larger prey till it is 

 softened by putrefaction. But in proportion as the 

 mouth and its furniture are ill adapted for preparing 

 the food for the stomach, the pharynx and gullet are 

 well fitted for conveying it to that organ, the whole 

 swallowing apparatus being furnished with muscular 

 coats capable of very powerful contraction. Cuvier 

 is under a mistake in stating that their intestines are 

 without ccecal appendages ; for some of the species 

 have two, though but of small size. One other point 

 may be mentioned in which they have a slight resem- 

 blance to the monotrcmata, the ornithorhynchus and 

 the echidna ; and that is, that, in the female there is 

 very little distinction between the uterus and the va- 

 gina, but both approach the form of a single canal, as 

 in birds. The mammae are persistent, however, four 

 in some of the species and two in others, and they 

 are furnished with nipples. Of course, from the 

 form of their mouths, the young armadilloes can 

 suck in the same manner as the young of other 

 mammalia ; whereas the bills of the ornithorhynchus 

 and echidna quite disqualify them for that ope- 



ration, and the females have, in consequence, no 

 nipples, but the milk comes through the integument 

 of the mammary glands in drops, and the young get 

 it " as they best can," for the process of their suckling 

 has not yet been observed. 



It is understood that armadillos breed but once a 

 year, but the brood are often more numerous than 

 the teats of the mother ; and as one cannot suppose 

 that the surplus number are regularly produced only 

 to perish for want of maternal nourishment, there is 

 no doubt but what two or more must often be nursed 

 upon one teat. That, however, is not an anomaly 

 in nature ; for though the most prolific species 

 generally have the most numerous teats, there is no 

 necessary connexion between them and the number of 

 young : the cow, when she drops but a single calf, 

 has all the four teats equally furnished with milk. 



Armadillos are found only in South America, and 

 not in the southern parts or the mountainous parts 

 in any latitude, or in those places which are subject 

 to inundation during the rains. Some of the species 

 are found in Guiana, and others in the pampas to 

 the southward of La Plata ; but they are not so 

 numerous in these, which may be considered as the 

 limits of their geographical distribution, as they are 

 in Upper Paraguay and the adjoining parts of Brazil. 

 In these they are very plentiful, and, for reasons 

 which will be pointed out by and by, their numbers 

 are probably increasing rather than diminishing. 

 Some of them confine themselves more to the woods 

 (not the thick and tangled forests or the humid 

 grounds, but the woods on dry land, which are less 

 luxuriant and more open), and others reside more in 

 the open plains. They chiefly live in burrows, descend- 

 ing at first, as already described, at an angle of forty- 

 five degrees, till they gain a depth of about two feet 

 and a half below the surface ; they then proceed for 

 four or five feet more without descent, or rather with 

 a little rising, and the dwelling is at the further 

 extremity. By this mode of descent they obtain a 

 roof strong enough not to fall in ; and the turn 

 which it afterwards takes secures them from rain, the 

 quantity of which that can enter by the small exter- 

 nal opening is not, under ordinary circumstances, 

 very great. Some of the species remain constantly 

 in their burrows during the heat, and even the light 

 of the day, and come abroad to feed only during tho 

 night. These species are said to be very timid in 

 their manners. Others come abroad at all times, 

 and are less easily alarmed. They all, however, 

 make for their burrows when pursued; and if they 

 find that they cannot reach those, they set about 

 earthing themselves with great expedition. Not- 

 withstanding the shortness of their legs, the apparent 

 weight of their mailed covering, and its stiffness, 

 which prevents flexure of the spine and those alter- 

 nate risings of the shoulders and the crupper, which 

 are seen in the ordinary mammalia, their progressive 

 motion in a straight line is by no means slow, for 

 some of them will outrun an ordinary man. They 

 owe this rapid motion entirely to the great muscular 

 lower of their legs, and to that concentration of the 

 iction of the whole body toward the sacrum as a 

 )oint of rest, which urges them forward when 

 digging. 



Their digging is not confined to the excavation of 

 heir dwellings, for they also practise it in the seeking 

 )f their food. They thus get at tuberous roots in 

 he ground, and also at worms and other small ground 



