170 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



it can he killed easily by a blow on the head. The Ant-eater runs slowly, and never moves far from 

 the entrance of its burrow, being seen to do so only at night-time. The burrows are often two feet in 

 diameter and three or four feet deep before they branch off. Night is the time for Ant-eating, for the 

 active and industrious insects are then all at home and within their solid nests. Then the Orycteropus 

 sallies forth, finds a fresh nest, sprawls over it, and scratches a hole in its side, using his strong claws, 

 and then introduces his long snout. Having satisfied himself that there is no danger at hand, the animal 

 protrudes its long slimy tongue into the galleries and body of the nest, and it is at once covered with 

 enraged Ants, which stick to it, and are finally returned with it into the mouth. This goes on over 

 and over again, until the appetite is satisfied ; and apparently the diet is excellent, for the Ant-eater is 



CAPE ANT-EATEE. 



generally fat, and indeed his hams are appreciated as a delicacy for their peculiar flavour, into which 

 that of formic acid is said to enter. 



Although without an armour to its body, and provided with only a thick skin and bristles, the 

 Orycteropus has a great resemblance in many points of its anatomy to the Armadillos of America. It 

 is more closely allied to them than to the other Edentata. It is one of the order of Edentata, for there 

 are no front teeth in the jaws, the incisors and canines being absent. The teeth are found in the 

 back part of the mouth, and there are five on each side and in the upper and lower jaws, or twenty in 

 all ; there are also some small teeth which fall out during the growth of the animal. As might be 

 expected from the very simple nature of the diet, the teeth are not at all complicated in their structure. 

 They increase in size from before backwards, the last tooth but one being the largest, and all are 

 peculiar in their minute construction. The first permanent tooth, which may be called a molar, is 

 cylindrical in shape, and consists of a -centre of very remarkable substance, for the body of the tooth 

 is composed of a great number of vertical canals placed side by side, and running up the tooth. It 

 was this interesting structure, so different to that of other animals, which led Cuvier to compare the 

 teeth to pieces of cane. Outside this part of the tooth is a hard and more solid substance. When 



