ttlANTS AND PIGMIES. 89 



« coat of armor like an armadillo. These, accordingly, enter 

 «mong the illustrations of the Meijatherium in the second 

 volume of his Bridgewater Treatise. AV^hile the coat of the 

 Ohjptodon htLA &omQ resenahlance to that of the armadillo, it 

 •was rigid, and had not the i)liability which the eleven banda 

 (undecemclHctns) of the latter afforded. We have a specimen 

 of the armadillo in the museum, which is certainly a pigmy 

 <3ompared with the Gli/pfo'hm. This, too, came from Soutk 

 America. At the Exposition Univorselle de Paris, 1867, we 

 «aw in the department of Venezuela, Argentine Republic, a 

 ■collection of remains of Metjatherinm and Glyptodon. They 

 •seemed to belong to several individuals of both. I attempted 

 to secure some specimens. It was expected that they would be 

 purchased by some of the great museums of the Continent. 

 The Commissioner, like Mr. Hawkins, would not give me evea 

 -a scute, lest it should be missed out of the restored carapace. 



53. Tl^e Megatherium is considered to be allied to vthe 

 «loth. It was a vegetarian. In Dana's Manual there 's a 

 figure of a skeleton in the British Museum. He gives its 

 length as 18 feet. Buekland'sX'/"'"'^ 1 is of "a nearly perfect; 

 •skeleton m the museum at Madrid. His fi<jttre 2 are the 

 "bones of a pelvis discovered near Buenos Ayres. This is in 

 the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. From these 

 •we find that the breadth of tlie pelvis was about 5 feet. The 

 same was the breadth across the shoulders. Colossal strength 

 is thus indicated as well as size. His tail is not simply an 

 •appendage. It is evidently intended for support. His fore 

 feet are in length about two feet and a half each ; they are pro- 

 'vide^ with strong claws — four each. The " Island Megathern " 

 has selected a tree, having (hypothetieally) a plentiful supply 

 •of his favonte food. As it is high beyond his reach — it must 

 "be brought down. Having cleared away the soil from the 

 roots of the tree, he is erecting himself. His hind legs and 

 tail are now a tri{x»d ; he grasps the tree in his arms. It '\% 

 moved backwards and forwards until its roots give way. It 

 ialls with a crash, the animal feasts while the foliage lasts, 

 ^o it is supposed. When we first visited the British Museum 



