THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 6 1 



UN GUI C TIL AT ED MAMMALIA. 

 Edentata, or Toothless Animals. 



ALTHOUGH the general term " toothless " is given to the 

 animals forming this order they are not all of them wholly 

 devoid of teeth ; in fact, some of them have a great many. 

 They all, however, agree in this one particular, namely, 

 that they are all entirely without incisors. 



They may be divided into Leaf-eating and Flesh or 

 Insect-eating. 



The first of these tribes is represented by 

 The Sloth, which belongs to a family named Tardi- 

 grada, or slow-footed. This animal has been much 

 misunderstood, and even pitied by several naturalists. 

 Even Cuvier says, " Nature seems to have amused her- 

 self in producing something imperfect and grotesque." 

 Now in this Cuvier was most absurdly wrong. Nature 

 never does amuse herself the works of God never are 

 imperfect ; it is only our knowledge of them which is so 

 defective, that we are not able to see the wise provision 

 which the merciful Father of all has made for the well- 

 being of His creatures. The fact is, that those who have 

 reported on the Sloth have observed" him when, by some 

 accident, he has been upon the ground j but the sloth 

 never is upon the ground if he can help it. He lives 

 amongst the trees, but not, as monkeys and other 

 arboreal* animals live, on the branches, but under them ; 

 and, therefore, his construction is adapted for hanging 

 from the boughs. His legs are very strong, and those 

 in the front that is, his arms are twice as long as the 

 hinder ones, and all four turn inward, so that when on 

 the ground he is of course awkward ; but once on, or 

 rather under the branches of a tree, he gets along with a 



* Arboreal belonging to trees. From the Latin word arlor, a tree. 



