* THE PANGOLIN. 285 



Why called the stone vermin. 



four claws each, the fore ones, however, being 

 much stronger and sharper than the hind. The 

 general colour is a deep brown, reflecting a yel- 

 lowish cast from the highly polished surface of 

 the scales. The whole length of this creature is 

 frequently five feet and upwards. 



The short-tailed manis is found in various 

 parts of India; and the natives give it the name 

 of pangoelling; but the provincial appellation in 

 the neighbourhood of Bengal is vajracite, or 

 thunderbolt reptile, from the extreme hardness 

 of its scales, which are said to be capable of 

 striking fire like a flint. 



The natives of Malabar call it alungu, and 

 those of Bahar bojar-cit, or stone-vermin, from a 

 remarkable property which it is said to possess, 

 of swallowing stones. In the stomach of one of 

 these animals, we are told, above a tea-cup full 

 of stones have been found, which it was sup- 

 posed to have swallowed in order to facilitate 

 digestion. 



Travellers assert, that this animal is found in 

 various parts of Guinea, where it is called quogelo 

 by the negroes. It frequents the woods and 

 marshy places, where, like the ant-eater, it seeks 

 out the ant-hills, and laying its tongue across 

 their paths, collects and devours numbers of 

 them- at a time. Its pace is very slow, and it 

 generally seeks its security in rolling itself up, 

 when the most ferocious animal hardly dare at- 

 tack it for fear of being lacerated by the sharp 



