178 NATURAL HISTORY. 



History of the Quadrupeds of Paraguay " we have derived the greater portion of the preceding account 

 of the habits and economy of this extraordinary animal. " It is supposed," says Don Felix, " that the 

 Jaguar himself dares not attack the Ant-Bear, and that if, pressed by hunger, or under some other 

 excitement, he does so, the Ant-Bear hugs him and embraces him so tightly, as very soon to deprive 

 him of life, not even relaxing his hold for hours after life has been extinguished by his assailant. It 

 is very certain that such is the manner in which the Ant-eater defends himself ; but it is not to be 

 believed that his utmost efforts could prevail against the Jaguar, which, by a single bite or blow of 

 his paw, could kill the Ant-eater before he was prepared for resistance ; for even in so extreme a case, 

 his motions are so slow and so heavy, that he takes some time to get himself ready, and besides being 

 unable to leap, or to turn with even ordinary rapidity, he is necessarily forced to act solely on the 

 defensive." The flesh of the Ant-eater is esteemed a delicacy by the Indians and negro slaves, and, 

 though black, and of a strong musky flavour, is sometimes even met with at the tables of Europeans. 



This large Ant-eater, grey in colour, with a black-coloured throat and a triangular spot, black in 

 tint, ascending obliquely over each shoulder, has four claws on the fore limb and five on the hinder 

 extremity. The claws are grooved underneath, and are not split or foi-ked as in the Manis, and they, 

 and especially the great middle claw, are protected by an expansion of bone from the last joint of the 

 digits, or toes. This envelopes the base of the claw, except quite underneath, leaving the tip free 

 to perform its office without endangering the tender base. The tips are protected, moreover, in the 

 fore limbs by the position assumed during standing and walking, for they are then turned in and 

 do not touch the ground ; but this is not the case in the feet, for the Great Ant-Bears rest on their soles. 

 Without teeth, and having an incomplete arch of bone between the cheek and ear bones, they possess 

 a long palate, so long, indeed, that when the long nose cavity opens into the throat in the skeleton 

 certain bones called pterygoid, or wing-shaped, form part of its boundary. This is unusual amongst the 

 Mammalia, and Huxley observes that it is only found in some of the Whale tribe (Getacea). Moreover, 

 it is not noticed in any other vertebrate animals except the Crocodiles. The skull is very IOAV and 

 long, and the framework of the tongue is as important as that of the jaws. This kind of Ant-eater 

 has imperfect collar bones. As in the other Ant-eaters there is in this one a very muscular condition 

 of the right side of the stomach.* 



THE TAMANDUA.f 



The Tamaiidua is much smaller than the Great Ant-eater, and is, were it not for its long snout 

 and tail, somewhat like a Sloth. It is nearly as large as one of these animals, and has -a long head, small 

 rounded ears, and small mouth. The body, some two feet in length, is rather short, and is covered 

 with short, silky, or woolly shining hair, of almost uniform length. The fore limbs are very stout, 

 especially above the elbow, and the hind ones rest on the rather long sole. The tail is about 

 a foot and a half in length ; it is stout- at its root, and round and tapering to the blunt end, is 

 minutely scaled, and covered in some places with short hairs. The fore claws are bent on the hand, 

 and the animal walks on their outer and upper surface, using them also to clasp and to hang on in 

 climbing. The tail is more or less prehensile. The colour of the hair and the markings varies much 

 in the species, and in captivity the rusty straw-colour of the body becomes whiter ; but there is a 

 line of black on the upper part of the chest reaching over the shoulders and between them and the neck 

 on to the back, and also several black patches over the tail and on the flanks. 



The Tamandua is an inhabitant of the thick primeval forests of tropical America, and lives in 

 Brazil and Paraguay. It is rarely found on the ground, but resides almost exclusively on trees, where 

 it lives upon termites, honey, and even, according to the report of D'Azara, bees, which in those 

 countries form their hives among the loftiest branches of the forest, and, having no sting, are more 

 readily despoiled of their honey than their congeners of Great Britain. When about to sleep, it 

 hides its muzzle in the fur of its breast, falls on its belly, letting its fore feet hang down on each side, 

 and wrapping the whole tightly round with its tail. The female, as in the case of the Great Ant-eater, 

 has but two pectoral mammae, and produces but a single cub at a birth, which she carries about with 



* It is certainly remarkable that the brain of this animal should present numerous convolutions, whilst the brain of the 

 Sloth has barely any. The commissures of the brain are large, especially that of the centre, or corpus callosum, and also 

 the anterior. The uterus is simple, the os is double, and the placenta is said to be discoidal. 



t Tamandua tetradactyla. 



