Btrttouarn of &mmatctt Mature. 623 



which he kept in his house for aconsiderahle 

 time. " This animal climbs with remarkable 

 sureness and aptitude, although, as is well 

 known, with a degree of slowness which, 

 however, may he called rapidity in com- 

 parison with its terrestrial movements. The 

 manner in which it moves is this : Lying 

 on its belly with all its four extremities 

 stretched out from its body, it first proses 

 one of its hind feet with all its might against 

 the ground, whereby the corresponding side 

 of the body is a little raised. The fore leg 



THREW-TOBD SLOTH. 

 (BHA.D7FD8 TOBDATD8.) 



on the same Bide thus becomes sufficiently 

 free for the animal to advance it a trifle for- 

 ward. It then hooks its powerful claws fast 

 in the earth, and so drags its body a little 

 onwards. The same manoeuvre is next re- 

 peated on the opposite side : and thus the 

 poor creature progresses in the slowest and 

 most laborious manner possible. But in 

 proportion as the Sloth's organization unfits 

 it for terrestrial progression, is it wonder- 

 fully adapted to climbing trees. With its 

 long arms it reaches high up, aud clings fast 

 to the branches with its strong crooked claws. 

 The inverted position of the soles of its hind 

 feet gives it a power of grafting the trunk 

 of the tree which no other mammal possesses. 

 So that truly when we see it climbing a tree, 

 we can scarcely believe it to be the same ani- 

 mal that lies so helpless on the ground. 

 Ik-nee we see that the Sloth's organization 

 is entirely adapted for living in trees. Com- 

 pared with the slowness of its motions, it is 

 the l>est climber among mammals, while it 

 is the worst walker ; or rather, it is the only 

 mammal that can neither walk nor stand." 

 SLOW- WORM. [See BLIND-WORM.] 



SLUG. (Limax.) A naked mollusc, of 

 the order Fnlmonca, family Limacince. The 

 common small gray Slug (Limax cinerens) 

 is too well known as a destructive pest in 

 our gardens to need much describing. It 

 has a prominent head, with four tentacula ; 

 and at the end of the longer pair the eyes 

 are situated. These tentacula can be drawn 



inwards, by a process resembling the inver- 

 sion of the finger of a glove. On the back 

 there is a kind of shield or disc, formed by 

 the mantle, and which covers the pulmonary 

 sac ; aud the head can be partially con- 



tracted or withdrawn beneath it. In the 

 mouth is an upper jaw only, of a crescent 

 form, and toothed, which enables it to 

 devour with voracity herbs and fruits. The 

 stomach is elongated, simple, and mem- 

 branous. Its progress on the ground may 

 easily be traced by the slime which it leaves 

 in its track. 



The BLACK SLUG, whose appearance in 

 our fields and meadows in the summer sea- 

 son is considered as an indication of ap- 

 proaching rain, feeds on the leaves of differ- 

 ent kinds of plants, and is in all respects 

 except its size and colour, similar to the 

 preceding. 



Another species, called the TKSTACELLA, 

 (T. /itiliotidea), which feeds largely on earth- 

 worms, has the respiratory aperture, and the 

 anus, near the posterior extremity ; where 

 their mantle, which is very small, is also 

 placed, and contains a small car-shaped shell 

 which does not equal one tenth the length of 

 the body. This animal is abundant in the 

 south of France, and has been lately intro- 

 duced into the gardens of this country, where 

 it is said to be rapidly multiplying. 



SMELT. (Otmerus eperlanu*.) A small 

 but delicious Malacopterygious fish, inhabit- 

 ing the salt water about the mouths of rivers, 

 and in its habits resembling the salmon. All 

 parts of the mouth are armed with long and 

 pointed teeth, and there are four or five upon 

 the tongue. The body is long and somewhat 

 compressed ; the eyes large and round ; and 

 the under jaw longest. The European Smelt 

 is from four to eight inches long ; the head 

 and body are semi-transparent, with the 

 most brilliant tints of green, and silvery : 

 all the fins pale yellowish white ; the ends 

 of the caudal rays tipped with black. The 



Smelt inhabits fresh water from August to 

 May. After spawning in the beginning of 

 April, they return to the sea. In August 

 the fry are found about three inches long, 

 swimming near the surface in shoals in the 

 rivers, ascending and descending with the 

 tide, when the adult fish are again visiting 



