ARRAGONITE. 



203 



The intestines of this species is furnished with two 

 small ccuca. 



This is one of the most active of the armadillos ; it 

 runs with great swiftness, and even, notwithstanding the 

 little flexibility of its back, makes attempts at a sort 

 of jumping. It is a bustling animal, and appears to 

 wish to know what is going on ; for if hallooed to in 

 its burrow it replies by grunting ; and if the noise is 

 continued, it comes out to see what is going on. Still 

 it has no means of defence but flight or burrowing, as 

 it does not offer to use either its teeth or its claws 

 when assailed. It has already been mentioned that its 

 pace is rather swift ; and in dexterity of burrowing 

 it is perhaps superior to any of the genus. It is par- 

 ticularly fond of carrion ; and as it is an active ani- 

 mal, it finds abundance of that description of food, 

 and is in consequence generally fat. The Indians 

 seek after it with considerable avidity ; but the de- 

 scendants of Europeans seem to have a prejudice 

 against its flesh, in consequence of the nature of its 

 food ; though it is probable that some of the species 

 which they eat with the greatest relish, and which are 

 night-feeders, and their food imperfectly known, may 

 as frequently regale themselves on putrid bullock as 

 the encoubert. In Paraguay this species is very 

 plentiful. The mammae in the female are only two 

 in number ; the broods, in all probability, exceed 

 that, though their positive number is not very well 

 ascertained. 



6. The hairy armadillo (Dasypus rillosus) resembles 

 the encoubert in many particulars, but it is smaller in 

 size, has the tail shorter in proportion ; and the body 

 is much more hairy, as brown hairs appear not only 

 in the joints between the bands and bucklers, but 

 over their surfaces. The length of this one is about 

 fourteen inches, and that of the tail about five. 



The hairy armadillo is not found in the tropical 

 parts of South America or even in Paraguay. It 

 resides chiefly in the drier parts of the pampas, never 

 approaches the humid grounds, and lodges and nestles 

 in natural holes in the ground rather than in burrows 

 of its own excavation. It can burrow, however. It 

 is very fond of carrion ; and when the surface of the 

 carcase on which it preys is dry and hard, it burrows 

 in below, where the parts in contact of the ground have 

 begun to decay ; and feeding away as the carcase 

 putrefies, it hollows out the whole interior, leaving the 

 dry surface like a thin and empty shell. The flesh of 

 this species, notwithstanding its feeding, is said to be 

 very delicious. 



7. The Pic/iiy (Dasypus minntns}. This is the 

 pigmy armadillo of some authors, and the smallest of 

 all the known species. It inhabits the same regions 

 as the one last mentioned, and extends even farther 

 to the southward, being found on the borders of Pata- 

 gonia. Except that it lives in burrows of its own 

 excavation, its habits very much resemble those of 

 the hairy armadillo. The whole length is only about 

 ten inches, and the tail nearly half as much more. 

 The head is small, the neck short, the buckler on the 

 head shadows the small eyes, and below them there 

 are tufts of hair on the cheek. There is a good deal 

 of hair between the moveable plates, but it is not so 

 much distributed over the body as in the last-men- 

 tioned species. 



CABASSOUS. The animals of this division have 

 generally nine or ten teeth in each side of both jaws, 

 though it should seem that the number of teeth, like 

 that of the moveable bands in the armour, is not 



constant, and therefore not implicitly to be depended 

 upon for the purposes of classification. There are 

 five toes on each of the feet; the first, second, and 

 fifth on the fore feet having the claws moderate, but 

 the third and fourth having them of immense size- 

 There is only one known species. 



8. The Tatouai/ (Dasypus tatouay'). This is the 

 one-banded armadillo, though in fact the number of 

 moveable bands is about twelve. The length is 

 about nineteen inches, and the tail between seven and 

 eight. It is not so much fortified by armour as that 

 organ in the other species, but covered with detached 

 scales or crusts. The head is long and the muzzle 

 pointed, but the forehead round ; the ears are large, 

 and at a moderate distance from each other. It is 

 much more tropical than many of the other species, 

 being found in Guiana and Brazil, but rarely indeed 

 even in the upper part of Paraguay. Its habits are 

 very imperfectly known. 



PKIODONTES. The animals of this division have 

 the same large claws on the middle toes of the fore 

 feet, and the teeth in each side of both jaws vary from 

 twenty-four to thirty-six. It is from this great abund- 

 ance of teeth that the division is named. 



The giant armadillo (Dasypus gigas). This is the 

 twelve-banded armadillo of some authors, and so far 

 as is known, the number of bands intermediate between 

 the bucklers amounts to twelve or thirteen. It is 

 rather a tropical species, but it is found in Brazil and 

 the northern parts of Paraguay, where it never appears 

 in the plains, but keeps to the great forests, and burrows 

 in the ground with great facility. The head is long 

 and very slender, the ears rather short, the buckler 

 formed of distinct transverse bands very close to the 

 neck, nearly meeting under the throat, and very 

 concave forwards. The buckler on the crupper com- 

 pletely invests the root of the tail, and the concavity 

 of its transverse pieces is turned backwards. The 

 scales on the moveable band and also the markings on 

 the others are rectangular. This is by far the largest 

 of all the armadillos, being three feet three inches in 

 length, with the tail one foot five inches more. The 

 tail is very thick at the root, tapers to the point, and 

 is covered by small plates forming a sort of spiral 

 row. 



The habits of the great armadillo are not much 

 known, but observation shows that it is very fond of 

 putrifying animal matter, and that it will dig deep 

 into graves in order to get at the bodies of the dead. 



Such is an outline of most that is accurately known 

 of the natural history of these most singular animals. 



ARRAGONITE, or prismatic limestone. An 

 earthy mineral which is usually divided into two 

 sub-species. The common Arragonite is of a green- 

 ish white tint, in some specimens approaching to a 

 violet blue. It occurs massive, and is frequently 

 crystallised. The primitive form of its crystals is an 

 oblique four-sided prism. 



Arragonite is found in the trap-rocks of Bohemia, 

 of the Brisgau, and of Lower Italy. Very beautiful 

 specimens occur at Schwartz in the Tyrol, one of 

 which, preserved in the mineralogical collection 

 at the British Museum, is represented on the next 

 page. It strikingly resembles some portions of 

 the animal viscera, and in fact appears like a part 

 of the human frame petrified. It is there associated 

 with copper-green, grey copper-ore, ochry-brown 

 iron-ore, iron pyrites, quartz, and calcareous spar ; 

 in Spain it occurs imbedded in gypsum, along with 



