THE ARMADILLOS. 



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formidable jaws, which are powerful enough to drive a human being almost distracted 

 with pain. The claws are not only employed in destroying the nest of the termite, but 

 in digging burrows for its own residence, a task for which they are well adapted by 

 reason of their great size and strength, and the vigor of the limbs to which they are 

 attached. As the limbs are short, and the claws very long, the pace of the 1'hatngin 

 is very slow, and its tardiness is increased by the fact that the claws of the fon 

 are folded upon a thick, fleshy pad, and are therefore not at all adapted for locomotion. 



The Phatagin is a native of Western Africa, and is of considerable dimensions, 

 reaching five feet in average length, of which the tail occupies three feet. From the 

 great length of the tail, it is sometimes called the LONG-TAILED MANIS. 



The BAJJERKEIT, or SHORT-TAILED MANIS, is a native of various parts of India, and 

 is also found in Ceylon. Of this species Sir Emerson Tennent gives the following short 

 account : " Of the Edentates, the only example in Ceylon is the scaly ant-eater, called 

 by the Singalese, Caballaya, but usually known by its Malay name of Pengolin, a 

 word indicative of its faculty of 'rolling itself up ' into a compact ball, by bending its 

 head towards its stomach, arching its back into a circle, and securing all by a powerful 

 hold of its mail-covered tail. When at liberty, they burrow in the dry ground to a depth of 

 seven or eight feet, where they reside in pairs, and produce annually two or three young. 



PHATAQIN. Mania tetradactyld, 



Of two specimens which I kept alive at different times, one from the vicinity of 

 Kandy, about two feet in length, was a gentle and affectionate creature, which after 

 wandering over the houses in search of ants, would attract attention to its wants by 

 climbing up my knee, laying hold of my leg by its prehensile tail. The other, more 

 than double that length, was caught in the jungle near Chilaw, and brought to me in 

 Colombo. I had always understood that the Pengolin was unable to climb trees, but the 

 one last mentioned frequently ascended a tree in my garden in search of ants, and this 

 it effected by means of its hooked feet, aided by an oblique grasp of the tail. The ants 

 it seized by extending its round and glutinous tongue along their tracks. Generally speak- 

 ing, they were quiet during the day, and grew restless as evening and night approached." 



THE manis affords a curious example of scale-armor formed by nature, and a still 

 more singular instance of natural plate-armor is found in the following little group of 

 animals : 



The ARMADILLOS are inhabitants of Central and Southern America, and are tolerably 

 common throughout the whole of the land in which they live. The general structure of 

 the armor is similar in all the species, and consists of three large plates of horny 

 covering ; one being placed on the head, another on the shoulders, and the third on the 

 hind quarters. These plates are connected by a series of bony rings, variable in number, 

 overlapping each other, and permitting the animal to move freely. Each plate and band is 



