THE AARD YARK. 487 



enemy's artillery, the author of this confusion flings his glu- 

 tinous tongue among them and sweeps them into his mouth by 

 hundreds. The Aard varks abound all over the sultry plains 

 of torrid Africa, but owing to their great burrowing powers 

 the capture of a living specimen is attended with the greatest 

 difficulty ; the claws being instruments of excavation with 

 which the spade is unable to compete. Unless disturbed, how- 

 ever, and forced to dig deeper through fear of capture, the 

 Aard vark, being averse to unnecessary trouble, makes but a 

 shallow burrow — sufficiently deep, however, not seldom to 

 cause the wheels of a waggon to sink into it, or to prove a 

 treacherous pitfall to a hunter in full chase. 



The American Armadillos have many points in common with 

 the Manides. They have neither fore nor canine teeth, but a 

 number of conical grinders, and are distinguished by having 

 the upper parts of their bodies defended by a complete suit of 

 armour, divided into joints or bands, folding one over the other 

 like the parts of a lobster's tail, so as to accommodate them- 

 selves to all the motions of the animal. In life, this shell is 

 very limber, so that the armadillo is able to go at full stretch, 

 or to roll himself up into a ball as occasion may require. These 

 animals are very common both in the forests and in the open 

 plains of South America, where they reside in subterranean 

 homes which they have dug with their powerful fore-limbs. 

 They are seldom seen abroad during the day, and when sur- 

 prised are sure to be near the mouth of their holes ; but after 

 sunset they sally forth in search of roots, grain, worms, insects, 

 and other small animals, and when disturbed, coil themselves 

 up in their armour like the hedgehog, or squat close to the 

 ground, or escape by digging into the earth, a work which they 

 perform with masterly dexterity. So fast indeed do they ex- 

 cavate that if a horseman sees one of these animals, he must 

 almost tumble from his steed if he wishes to capture the active 

 creature. And when he has seized it he must be cautious not 

 to come into contact with its feet, or he will suffer severe 

 wounds from the powerful claws with which they are armed. 



The family of the armadillos has been subdivided into 

 numerous genera and species, distinguished from each other by, 

 the number of their shelly bands, their teeth, and their toes 

 They miglij: also be conveniently divided into two tribes, the 



