94 SLOTHS ARMADILLOS. 



powerful than their extensors, the latter being those which sustain 

 the weight of the body when walking, and that their motions are 

 extremely slow,, and we can then form an idea of the restraint 

 to which the mode of conformation of these animals must subject 

 them, when placed under the same circumstances in which most 

 quadrupeds live and move without inconvenience. But it would 

 be wrong to believe that nature has made any imperfect or 

 grotesque beings; it is altogether otherwise; she has designed 

 the Sloths to live hooked to branches of trees, and in this position, 

 in which the most ordinary quadrupeds would be quickly 

 fatigued, the anomalies of structure we have just pointed out, 

 become so many happy provisions to enable these edentata to 

 climb and cling, with the least possible muscular effort, and to 

 facilitate the prehension of their food, suspended over their heads. 



4. The dental system of these animals also possesses distinctive 

 peculiarities ; their canines are long and sharp, and their molars 

 are cylindrical. Their stomach is divided into four pouches 

 analogous to the four stomachs of the Ruminantia. They have 

 two mammae on the chest and only give birth to one young one 

 at a time, which is carried on the back. They feed on leaves. 

 They inhabit the forests in the anterior of South America. The 

 most remarkable species of the many that are known, is the 

 *#/, or the Three Fingered Sloth, Bradypus Tridactylus, 

 (Plate &,fig> 1.) It is the only mammal that has more than seven 

 cervical vertebrae ; it has nine. It is about the size of a cat, its 

 arms are twice as long as its legs, and the hair which covers its 

 back is long, coarse, without elasticity, and resembles withered 

 grass. Its name is derived from its cry. 



FAMILY OF ORDINARY EDENTATA. 



5. Animals of this family are recognised by their pointed 

 muzzle. Of the genera composing this family, the 



6. 1st. ARMADILLOS, Dasypus, (Plate 4, fig. 2.) Are very 

 singular animals, having the head, the body, and very often the 

 tail, covered by a hard, scaly coat, composed of compartments 

 like mosaic. This substance which may be considered as agglu- 

 tinated hair, forms one shield on the front, a second very large 

 and convex one on the shoulders, a third similar to the preceding 

 on the croup, and, between these two shields, several moveable 



4. What is the character of their teeth ? Is there any thing remarkable 

 in the conformation of the stomach ? Where are Sloths found ? What is 

 the most remarkable species known? For what feature of its organization, 

 compared with other mammals, is the Sloth remarkable ? 



5. How are the Edentata recognised ? 



6. What are Armadillos ? 



