THE SLOTH. 89 



other ; and, after that, brings up both his legs, one by one, 

 to the same branch ; so that all four are in a line ; he seems 

 perfectly at rest in this position. Now, had he a tail, he 

 would be at a loss to know what to do with it in this posi- 

 tion : were he to draw it up with his legs, it would interfere 

 with them ; and were he to let it hang down, it would be- 

 come the sport of the winds. Thus his deficiency of tail is 

 a benefit to him ; it is merely an apology for a tail, scarcely 

 exceeding an inch and a half in length. 



" I observed when he was climbing, he never used his 

 arms both together, but first one and then the other, and so 

 on alternately. There is a singularity in his hair, different 

 from that of all other animals, and, I believe, hitherto unno- 

 ticed by naturalists ; his hair is thick and coarse at the 

 extremity, and gradually tapers to the root, where it be- 

 comes fine as the finest spider's web. His fur has so much 

 the hue of the moss which grows on the branches of the 

 trees, that it is very difficult to make him out when he is 

 at rest. 



" The male of the three-toed Sloth, has a longitudinal 

 bar of very fine black hair on his back, rather lower than 

 the shoulder-blades ; on each side of this black hair there 

 is a space of yellow hair, equally fine ; it has the appear- 

 ance of being pressed into the body, and looks exactly as 

 if it had been singed. If we examine the anatomy of his 

 fore legs, we shall immediately perceive by their firm and 

 muscular texture, how very capable they are of supporting 

 the pendent weight of his body, both in climbing and at 

 rest ; and, instead of pronouncing them a bungled compo- 

 sition, as a celebrated naturalist has done, we shall con- 

 sider them as remarkably well calculated to perform their 

 ordinary functions. 



" As the Sloth is an inhabitant of forests within the 

 tropics, where the trees touch each other in the greatest 

 profusion, there seems to be no reason why he should con- 

 fine himself to one tree alone for food, and entirely strip it 



