532 



HISTOUY OF 



the same, and seem to feel no pain in wounding a part of the 

 body so remote from the centre of circulation. 



It seems possessed of the same playful qualities, and indis- 

 criminate appetites, with tlie animal described in the last chap- 

 ter ; if left at liberty in a state of tameness, it will pursue the 

 poultry, and destroy every living thing that it has strength to 

 conquer ; though it is playful with its keeper, yet it seems ob- 

 stinately bent against receiving any instruction, and neither 

 threats nor caresses can induce it to practise any arts to which 

 it is not naturally inclined. When it sleeps, it rolls itself up in 

 a lump, and in that position often continues for fourteen or fif- 

 teen hours together. 



CHAP. XIV. 



THE ANT-BEAR. 



There are many animals that live upon ants in Africa and 

 America ; the pangolin or scaly lizard of Guinea may be con- 

 sidered among this number ; but there are a greater variety in 

 America, which make those minute insects their only subsis- 

 tence. Though they are of different figures and sizes, yet, in 

 general, they go under one common name of the ant-bear ; the 

 peculiar length and slendcrness of their snout, their singular ap- 

 petites, and the manner of taking their prey, striking us too 

 strongly to attend to the minute differences of their size or 

 form. 



They have been classed by Mr Buffon into the larger ta. 



MANDUA, the SMALLER TAMANDUA, and the ANT-EATER. The 



longest of this kind is four feet long, from the tip of the snout 

 to the insertion of the tail ; their legs are short, and armed with 

 four strong claws ; their tail is long and tufted, and tlie animal 

 often throws it on its back like the squirrel. The second of 

 this kind is not above eighteen inches long, the tail is without 

 hair, and it sweeps the ground as the animal moves. The ant- 

 EATER, which is the third variety, is still smaller than either of 

 the former, as it is not above seven inches from the tip of the 

 snout to the insertion of the tail. The tw® former are of a 



