THE MANTS. 25 



The different species of Manis deserve a passing notice. 

 They are all burrowers, and are furnished with armour even 

 better calculated for defence than that of the armadillo, inas- 

 much as it assumes somewhat of an offensive as well as a defen- 

 sive character. All these animals are covered with large, sharp 

 edged scales, of a stout horny consistence, which overlap each 

 other, like the tiles of a house. They are of wonderful hard- 

 ness, and form a buckler which is impenetrable to any weapon 

 possessed by the carnivorous animals of the regions wherein it 

 resides. A specimen of the Bajjerkeit, or Short-tailed 

 Manis of India {Manis pentadady la), now before me, affords a 

 good example of this weapon-resisting power. Edward Arnold, 

 Esq., to whom I am indebted for this specimen, possessed it in 

 a living state for a considerable time, and, when he was about 

 to leave India, determined to kill the animal and take the skin 

 with him. Accordingly, he fired three barrels of a Colt's re- 

 volver pistol at the Manis, but without the slightest effect, and 

 was at last obliged to introduce the point of a dagger under the 

 scales, and drive the weapon into the heart. On examining the 

 interior of the skin, the wound caused by the double-edged 

 daggei is plainly perceptible, but I cannot find the slightest 

 trace of the bullets. One of the balls, indeed, recoiled upon 

 the intending destroyer. 



When the Manis is alarmed, it rolls itself up, wraps its tail 

 over the body, and lies in conscious security, the horny scales 

 acting as a buckler, and their sharp edges deterring enemies 

 from the attack as much as the quills of the porcupine or the 

 spines of the hedgehog. 



The curious Aard Vark of Southern Africa {Oryderopus 

 Capensis) is another of the earth-burrowers, residing, for the 

 most part, in great holes which it scoops in the ground. 



The name Aard Vark is Dutch, signifying Earth-hog, and is 

 given to the animal on account of its extraordinary powers of 

 excavation and the swine-like contour of its head. The claws 

 with which this animal works are enormous, as, indeed, is need- 

 ful for the task which they are intended to perform. They are 



