ANIMALS. .3(51 



the breast, nor the belly. The scales of the lizard seem stuck 

 upon the body even doser than those of fishes ; the scales of the 

 pangolin are only fixed at one end, and capatjle of being erected, 

 like those of the porcupine, at the will of the animal. The lizard 

 is a defenceless creature ; the pangolin can roll itself into a ball, 

 like the hedgehog, and present the points of its scales to tlie 

 enemy, which effectually defend it. 



The pangolin, which is a native of the torrid climates of the 

 ancient continent, is, of all other animals, the best protected from 

 external injury by nature. It is about three or four feet long ; 

 or, taking in the tail, from six to eight. Like the lizard, it has 

 a small head, a very long nose, a short thick neck, a long body, 

 legs very short, and a tail extremely long, thick at the insertion, 

 and terminating in a point. It has no teeth, but is armed with 

 five toes on each foot, with long white claws. But what it is 

 chiefly distinguished by, is its scaly covering, which, in some 

 measure, hides all the proportions of its body. These scales 

 defend the animal on all parts, except the under part of the head 

 and neck, under the shoulders, the breast, the belly, and the 

 inner side of the legs ; all which parts are covered with a 

 smooth, soft slcin, without hair. Between the shells of this 

 animal, at all the interstices, are seen hairs like bristles, brown 

 at the extremity, and yellow towards the root. The scales of 

 this extraordinary creature are of different sizes and different 

 forms, and stuck upon the body somewhat like the leaves of an 

 artichoke. The largest are found near the tail, which is covered 

 with them like the rest of the body. These are above three in- 

 ches broad, and about two inches long, thick in the middle and 

 sharp at the edges, and terminated in a roundish point. They 

 are extremely hard, and their substance resembles that of horn. 

 They are convex on the outside, and a little concave on the in- 

 ner ; one edge sticks in the skin, while the other laps over that 

 immediately behind it. Those that cover the tail, conform to 

 the shape of that part, being of a dusky brown colour, and so 

 hard, when the animal has acquired its full growth, as to turn a 

 musket-ball. 



Thus armed, this animal fears nothing from the efforts of all 

 other creatures, except man. The instant it perceives the ap- 

 proach of an enemy, it rolls itself up like the hedgehog, and j)re- 

 sents no part but the cutting edges of its scales to the assailant. 



u. 2h 



