406 THE SLOTH. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



OF THE SLOTH. 



OF the Sloth there are two different kinds, distin- 

 guished from each other by their claws ; the one, 

 which in its native country is called the Unan, 

 having only two claws upon each foot, and being 

 without a tail ; the other, which is called the Ai, 

 having a tail, and three claws upon each foot. 

 The unan has the snout longer, the ears more ap- 

 parent, and the fur very different from the other. 

 It differs also in the number of its ribs, this hav- 

 ing forty-six, while the ai has but twenty-eight. 

 These differences, however, though very appa- 

 rent, have been but little regarded in the descrip- 

 tion of two animals which so strongly resemble 

 each other in the general outlines of their figure, 

 in their appetites, and their helpless formation. 



They are both, therefore, described under the 

 common appellation of the Sloth, and their habi- 

 tudes well deserve our wonder and curiosity.* 

 Nature seems cramped and constrained in their 

 formation : other animals are often indolent from 

 choice, these are slow from necessity. The ai, 

 from which I shall take my description, and from 

 which the other differs only in the slight particu- 



[* The sloth has no fore-teeth in either jaw; the dog-teeth are blunt, so- 

 litary, and longer than the grinders ; and there are five grinders on each side. 

 The fore-legs are considerably longer than the hind ones, and the claws are 

 long, and very strong. ] 



