I'.k.'.nLV ': A KDitiK A DA ; SLOTHS. 



the trees arc less contiguous, they take advantage of windv 

 r, which l>lows the boughs togetlicr, to effect their passage, 



Fi(i. I.'!!*. r.s.u, on T\\ u-ToKn SI.OTII. 



seldom coming to tlu; ground, and completely stripping the tree 

 of its leaves and youni: shoots, rather than do so. From the 

 peculiar construction of the Sloth, and the remarkable power of 

 resisting t<'nx'i'i, or strain, which its limbs seem to posses*, it ap- 

 pears to feel no more fatigue from remaining suspended beneath a 

 branch for a lon;_ r time together, than we do from sitting or stand- 

 iii-j- erect, a position which the Sloth could not maintain for an 

 in-taut without support. r l "he position which the Sloth assumes 

 during slee]). is no !<-<s peculiar than that of its period of activity. 

 It takes its place at the fork of a tree, the arms embracing the 

 trunk, the back rc>tiu_ f upon the aii^le of the branch, and tin- 

 bra ! reclining <>n the chc-t. The animal is thus rolled u]> almost, 

 in the form of a ball ; the entire vertebral column, including tin; 

 neck., assumes a ncarl v circular curve ; and not onlv is the weight 

 of the whole bodv maintained in an attitude of ease and safetv, but 

 the head is supported between the arms and chest, and the face 



