496 THE SLOTH 



scratched a sloth in the upper lip, and rubbed a minimum of the 

 venom in the wound, which did not even emit a drop of blood ; 

 he then carried the animal to a tree, wliich it began to climb, but 

 after having reached a height of about twelve feet, it suddenly 

 stopped, and swinging its head about from side to side, as if 

 uncertain which way to go, tried to continue its ascent, which, 

 however, it was unable to accomplish. First it let go one of its 

 fore-feet, then the other, and remained attached with its hind 

 legs to the tree until, these also losing their power, it fell to the 

 ground, where, without any of the convulsive motions or the 

 oppressive breathing which generally mark the effect of the 

 wourali, it expired in the thirteenth minute after the poison had 

 been administered. 



The sloths attain a length of about two feet and a half, and 

 form two genera — the Unaus, with two-toed fore-feet and three- 

 toed hinder extremities, and the Ais, with three toes on each 

 foot. The former have forty -eight ribs, the latter only thirty- 

 two. Their way of living is the same, and their range is limited 

 to the forests of Gruiana and the Brazils. They bring forth and 

 suckle their young like ordinary quadrupeds, and the young 

 sloth, from the moment of its birth, adheres to the body of its 

 parent till it acquires sufficient size and strength to shift for itself. 



Sloth-like animals of colossal dimensions — Megatheriums, 

 Mylodons — extinct long before man appeared upon the scene, 

 inhabited the forests of South America during the tertiary ages 

 of the world. 



From the dentition of the mylodon, it may be concluded that, 

 like the sloth of the present day, this monstrous animal fed on 

 the leaves or slender terminal twigs of trees, but while the 

 former, from the comparatively light weight of his body, is en- 

 abled to run along the under side of the boughs till he has 

 reached a commodious feeding-place, the elephantine bulk of 

 the mylodon evidently rendered all climbing utterly impossible. 



First scratching away the soil from the roots of the tree on 

 whose foliage he intended to feast, he next grasped it with his 

 long fore-legs, and rocking it to and fro, to right and left, soon 

 brought it to the ground, for " extraordinary must have been 

 the strength and proportions of that tree," says Professor Owen, 

 " which in such an embrace could long withstand the efforts of 

 its ponderous assailant.'' 



