26o 



TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE 



effectually protect them from attack. They feed, as do 

 the ant-eaters of the Ne\v World ; and their jaws are 

 equally toothless, while their fore-paws are furnished 

 with powerful claws, especially that of the middle finger. 

 They both climb and burrow, sometimes forming a 

 chamber six feet wide, four yards beneath the surface of 

 the soil ; the size of course depends on the size of the 

 species, and they vary from one foot to five feet in length. 

 They are said to live in pairs, and have one or two young 

 at a birth. The only sound they give forth is a hiss, and 



Fig. 72. 



THE LOXG-TAILED PAXGOLIN. 



this, together \vith their scaly exterior, naturally led to 

 their being considered to be reptiles— some kind of lizard. 

 They are found in China, India, and the Malay Archi- 

 pelago, and Africa south of the Sahara. No species is 

 now common to both Asia and Africa, though in quite 

 recent geological times, a form now African, existed at 

 Madras. At an earlier date a species dwelt in South- 

 eastern Europe, which w^as three times the size of any 

 species now hving. 



Mr. Fraser, the African travelling zoologist, gives * us 

 some details as to the habits of an animal of this kind. 

 He says : 



" During my short residence at Fernando Po, I suc- 

 * In his "Zoologica Typica." 



