S26 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



different purposes. The pangolin, and the phatagirt 

 hav r e nothing disagreeable but their figure ; they are 

 gentle, harmless, and innocent : they feed upon insects 

 only : they never run fast, and can only escape 

 the pursuit of men by hiding themselves in hollow 

 rocks, or in holes which they dig for themselves. They 

 are two extraordinary species, not numerous, nor very 

 useful ; and their odd form seems to rank them as an 

 intermediate class betwixt the quadrupeds and the 

 reptiles. 



THE ARMADILLO. 



WHEN a quadruped is mentioned, the very name 

 carries the idea of an animal covered with hair; and 

 yet nature, as if willing to deviate from this character- 

 istic uniformity, vary often astonishes us by uncom- 

 mon productions. The quadruped animals, which we 

 regard as the first class of living nature, and who are, 

 next to man, the most remarkable beings of this world, 

 are not superior in every thing, nor separated by con- 

 stant attributes : the first of t'-ese characters, which 

 constitutes their name, and which consists in having 

 feur feet, is common to lizards, frogs,, &c. which; how- 



