CHAEACTERISTICS OF THE ANT-BEAR. 485 



season, so that he might boast, like Diogenes, of carrying all he 

 required about him. 



The peculiar position of his paws, when he walks or stands, is 

 worthy of notice. He goes entirely on the outer side of his 

 fore-feet, which are quite bent inwards, the claws collected into 

 a point and going under the foot. In this position he is quite 

 at ease, while his long claws are disposed of in a manner to 

 render them harmless to him, and are prevented from becoming 

 dull and worn, which would inevitably be the case did their 

 points come in actual contact with the ground, for they have 

 not that retractile power which is given to animals of the 

 feline race, enabling them to preserve the sharpness of their 

 claws on the most flinty path. In consequence of its resting 

 perpetually on the ground, the whole outer side of the foot is 

 hard and callous, while, on the contrary, the inner side of the 

 bottom of the foot is soft and hairy. 



Besides the great ant-bear, there are two other species of 

 imerican ant-eaters, one nearly the size of a fox, and the 

 smallest not much larger than a rat. Being provided with 

 jrehen&ile tails, they are essentialy arboreal, while the great 

 mt-bear, incapable of climbing, always remains on the ground, 

 'Where, thanks to the abundance of his prey, he is always sure 

 of obtaining a sufficient supply of food, with very little trouble. 

 The Manides, and Pangolins, of South Africa and Asia, 

 resemble the ant-eaters of America in having a very long ex- 

 tensile tongue, furnished with a glutinous mucus for securing 

 their insect food, and in being destitute of teeth ; but com- 

 pletely differ from them in having the whole body covered with 

 a panoply of large imbricated scales, overlapping each other 

 like those of the lizard tribes, and also in being able to roll 

 themselves up when in danger, by which their trenchant scales 

 become erect, and present a formidable defensive armour of 

 wonderful hardness, so that even the tiger would vainly at- 

 tempt to overcome the Indian Pangolin. 



The manides are inoffensive animals, living wholly on ants 

 and termites, and chiefly inhabit the most obscure parts of the 

 forest, burrowing in the ground to a great depth, for which 

 purpose, as also for extracting their food from ant-hills and 

 decaying wood, their feet are armed with powerful claws, which 

 they double up in walking, like the ant-bear of Brazil. 



I. 



