THE ANT-BEAR. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE ANT-BEAR. 



THERE are many animals that live upon ants in Africa and A.neri 

 ca ; the pangolin or scaly lizard of Guinea may be considered among 

 diis number ; but there are a greater variety in America, which make 

 those minute insects their only subsistence. Though they are of dif- 

 ferent figures and sizes, yet, in general, they go under one common 

 name of the ant-bear ; the peculiar length and slenderness of their 

 snout, their singular appetites, and their manner of taking their prey, 

 striking us too strongly to attend to the minute differences of their 

 size or form. 



They have been classed by Mr. Buffon into the larger tamandua, 

 the smaller tamandua, and the ant-eater. The longest of this kind is 

 four feet long, from the tip of the snout to the insertion of the tail ; 

 their legs are short, and armed with four strong claws ; their tail is 

 long and tufted, and the animal often throws it on its back like the 

 squirrel. The second of this kind is not above eighteen inches long, 

 the tail is without hair, and it sweeps the ground as the animal mves. 

 The ant-eater, which is the third variety, is still smaller than either of 

 the former, as it is not above seven inches from the tip of the snout 

 to the insertion of the tail. The two former are of a brown dusky 

 colour, but this of a beautiful reddish, mixed with yellow ; though they 

 differ in figure, they all resemble each other in one peculiarity, which 

 is the extreme slenderness of their snout, and the amazing length of 

 their tongue. 



The snout is produced in so disproportionate a manner, that the 

 length of it makes near a fourth part of the whole figure. A horse 

 has one of the longest heads of any animal we know, and yet the ant 

 bear has one above twice as long in proportion to its body. The snout 

 of this animal is almost round and cylindrical ; it is extremely slender, 

 and is scarce thicker near the eyes than at its extremity. The mouth 

 is very small, the nostrils are very close to each other, the eyes are 

 little in proportion to the length of the nose, the neck is short, the 

 tongue is extremely long, slender, and flatted on both sides ; this it 

 keeps generally doubled up in the mouth, and is the only instrument 

 by which it finds subsistence; for the whole of this tribe are entirely 

 without teeth, and find safety only in the remoteness and security of 

 their retreat. 



If we examine through the various regions of the earth, we shall 

 find that all the most active, sprightly, and useful quadrupeds, have 

 been gathered round man, and either served his pleasures, or still 

 maintained their independence, by their vigilance, their cunning, or 

 their industry. It is in the remote solitudes that we are to look for 

 the helpless, the deformed, and the monstrous births of nature. These 

 wretched animals being incapable of defending themselves, either by 



