EDENTATA. 119 



The claws are very large and powerful. This animal confines 

 itself to the great forests, and burrows with surprising facility, 

 being assisted in this by the strength of its claws. "Those 

 who are employed in collecting the Jesuit's bark, frequently meet 

 with it in the woods, and report that when any of their compan- 

 ions happen to die at a distance from the settlements, they are 

 obliged to surround the body with a double row of stout planks, to 

 prevent it from being scratched up and devoured by the Great 

 Armadillo." 



Chlamyphorus, ((JDO^W, phoreo, I bear; xAa^vg, chlamus, a 

 cloak.) The PICHIAGO. 



This edentate animal seems to blend in itself the characteris- 

 tics of several distinct tribes. Like the Armadillos, it has a tes- 

 sellated shield ; this, however, is not, as in them, attached by integ- 

 uments, to the entire under surface, but is connected with the 

 back only, by a ridge of skin along the spine, and with the skull 

 by two bony prominences from the forehead, the margins of which 

 are beautifully fringed with silky hair. Its feet, eyes and snout, 

 exhibit resemblances to the mole. From the appearance of the 

 hind part of the tesselated shield, this animal has the specific 

 name truncatus, (Lat. truncated, or cut off.) Naturalists have 

 designated resemblances in it to the Sloth, the Aard-Vark, the 

 Greater Maned Ant-Eater, the Echidna, and the Ornithorhyncus ; 

 and to the Ruminants and Pachyderms. Dr. Buckland regards 

 it as "one of the nearest approximations to the Megatherium, par- 

 ticularly in regard to its coat of mail, and in the adaptation of the 

 animal for digging." Dr. Harlan says, "taken collectively, it 

 furnishes us with an example of organic structure, if not unpar- 

 alleled, not surpassed in the history of animals." The Pichiago 

 is quite small, the total length of the animal being only five inches 

 and a quarter. "It is a native of Chili, but is so rare even there, 

 as to be regarded by the natives as a curiosity." 



IV. Megatherida, (Gr. /ufyas, megas, great; Orglov, therion, 

 wild beast.) FOSSIL SLOTHS. 



This is a group of animals of such gigantic size, and massive 

 proportions, that even their fossil remains strike the beholder with 

 wonder and astonishment. Of such a character are these re- 

 mains, that we are constrained to bestow more space upon them 

 than can be given to other fossil tribes. These are the MEGATH- 

 EROIDS of Professor Owen, whose descriptions of them are ex- 

 ceedingly elaborate and interesting. Of these fossils, the. follow- 

 ing genera have been enumerated by him, viz., Megatherium, 

 Megalonyx, Glossotherium, Mylodon, and Scelidotherium, all of 

 which are found in South America alone. Of the Megatherium, 



