290 



SCENES OF ANCIENT DAYS. 



digging away below, scooping out the soft soil from between 



the roots ; and it is 

 marvellous to note how 

 rapidly he lays them 

 bare with those great 

 shovel-like claws of his. 

 Now he rears himself 

 again ; straddles wide 

 on his hind-feet, fix- 

 ing the mighty claws 

 deep in the ground ; 

 I plants himself firmly 

 on his hue tail, as 



THK SKELETON OF THE MEGATHERE. QJJ ^g third foot Of a 



tripod, and once more grasps the tree. The enormous hind- 

 quarters, the limbs and 

 the loins, the broad 

 pelvis and thick spinal 

 cord, supplying abun- 

 dant nervous energy 

 to the swelling muscles 

 inserted in the ridged 

 and keeled bones, all 

 come into play as a 

 point d'appui for the 

 Herculean effort." * 



" And now conceive 

 the massive frame ot 



THE MEGATHERE, RESTORED. ^6 Hiegathere COIL- 



vulsed with the mighty wrestling, every vibrating fibre re- 



* Gosse's " Natural History." 



