114 THE SLOTH. 



There is another small ant-eater found in Guiana, called 

 the striped ant-eater (Myrmecophaga striata), from the marks 

 on its body. Its general colour is of a tawny hue, the under 

 parts being white. It is marked with broad, distinct, blackish 

 transverse stripes, and the tail is annulated with similar ones. 

 Its whole length, from the tip of its nose to the end of its 

 tail, is about twenty inches. The snout is elongated, the 

 upper mandible extending very little beyond the lower. 



THE SLOTH. 



That shaggy -haired creature, which may be seen hanging 

 from the boughs of the lofty cecropia — the much-abused sloth 

 — is generally described as a type of laziness, doomed to a 

 helpless and wretched existence ; but such an animal the all- 

 beneficent Creator has not placed on the earth. To each 

 animal that he has formed he has given an instinct and 

 organization specially adapted to their mode of life and the 

 part the}^ are destined to perform in the economy of nature. 

 The sloth is formed to pass its time in trees, and to feed on the 

 superabundant leaves, which would otherwise impede the cir- 

 culation of the air, retard their gi^owth, or bring on premature 

 decay. This duty it shares with numberless other animals of 

 the luxuriant forests of Tropical America. Place the sloth out 

 of its natural position, and, as would be the case with other 

 animals, it finds itself in a difficulty. Its destiny is to live in 

 the dense forest, where, the branches of the trees meeting each 

 other, it can move along from bough to bough, and make its 

 way for considerable distances without difficulty, or having to 

 descend to the gTound. When by force or accident placed on 

 the gi'ound, it is unable to move along except at a slow and 

 toilsome pace. When by any chance thus seen, its arms 



