MAMMALIA — ARMADILLO. 



269 



fore legs. ' Come, poor fellow,' said I to him, ' if thou hast got into a 

 hobble to day, thou shalt not sufler for it; I'll take no advantage of thee in 

 misfortune; the forest is large enough both for thee and me to rove in; go 

 thy ways up above, and enjoy thyself in these- endless wilds ; it is more 

 than probable thou wilt never have another interview with man. So, fare 

 thee well.' On saying this, I took up a large stick which was lying there, 

 held it for him to hook on, and then conveyed him to a high and stately 

 mora. He ascended with wonderful rapidity, and in about a minute he was 

 almost at the top of the tree. He now went off in a side direction, and 

 caught hold of the branch of a neighboring tree ; he then proceeded towards 

 the heart of the forest ; I stood looking on, lost in amazement at his singular 

 mode of progress. I followed him with my eye till the intervening branches 

 closed in betwixt us ; and then I lost sight forever of the two-toed sloth. I 

 was going to add, that I never saw a sloth take to his heels in such earnest; 

 but the expression will not do, for the sloth has no heels." 



THE SIX-BANDED ARMADILLO. i 



Under the general name of armadillo, v/e may reckon several species 

 which seem to us really distinct; in all of them the animal is protected by 

 a crust resembling bone ; it covers the head, tlie neck, the back, the flanks, 

 the buttocks, and the tail to the very extremity. This crust is covered out- 

 wardly by a thin skin, sleek and transparent; the only parts that are not 

 cheltered by this buckler, are tlie throat, the breast, and the belly, which 

 presents a white grainy skin, like that of a plucked fowl ; and, in consider- 

 ing these parts with attention, you Avill perceive the appearance of scales 

 which are of the same substance as the crust. This crust is, however, not 



' Dasypus scxc'mclus, Lin. The genus DasyjTiis has two upper and four lower incisors, 

 sometimes none ; molars varyintj in the several species from twenty-eight to iNixty-eight, 

 simple, cylindrical, separate, wihout enamel on the inner side; headlong; iiioulli and 

 eyes small ; body enveloped in a hard scaly shell in three compartments coverinj^ t*-" 

 head, body, and tail, with moveable transverse bands between them; five toes on the h" 

 feet ; four or live on the fore feet, with long nails for digging. 



