274 MAMMALIA—ANT-EATER. 
Amongst the foremost of these stand the three species of ant-bears. The 
smallest 13 not much larger than a rat; the next is nearly the size of a fox; 
and the third, a stout and powerful animal, measuring about six feet from 
the snout to the end of the tail. He is the most inoffensive of all animals, 
and never injures the property of man. He is chiefly found in the inmost 
recesses of the forest, and seems partial to the low and swampy parts near 
creeks, where the Troely tree grows. There he goes up and down in quest 
of ants, of which there is never the least scarcity; so that he soon obtains a 
sufficient supply of food with very little trouble. He cannot travel fast; 
man is superior to him in speed. Without swiftness to enable him to 
escape from his enemies, without teeth, the possession of which would assist 
him in self-defence, and without the power of burrowing in the ground, by 
which he might conceal himself irom his pursuers, he is still capable of 
ranging through these wilds in perfect safety; nor does he fear the fatal 
pressure of the serpent’s fold, nor the teeth of the famished jaguar. Nature 
has formed his fore legs wonderfully thick, strong and muscular, and armed 
his feet with three tremendous sharp and crooked claws. Whenever he seizes 
an animal with these formidable weapons, he hugs it close to his body, and 
keeps it there till it dies through pressure, or want of food. Nor does the 
ant-bear, in the mean time, suffer from want of aliment, as itis a well known 
fact, that he can go longer without food than perhaps any other animal, 
except the land tortoise. His skin is of a texture that perfectly resists the 
bite of a dog: his hinder parts are protected by thick and shaggy hair, 
while his immense tail is large enough to cover his whole body. 
“ The Indians have a great dread of coming in contact with the ant-bear ; 
and after disabling him in the chase, they never think of approaching him 
till he is quite dead. It is perhaps on account of this caution, that natural- 
ists have never yet given to the world a true and correct drawing of this 
singular animal, or described the peculiar position of his fore feet when he 
walks or stands. If, in taking a drawing from a dead ant-bear, you judge 
of the position in which he stands from that of all other terrestrial animals, 
the sloth excepted, you will be in error. Examine only a figure of this 
animal, in books of natural history, or inspect a stuffed specimen in the 
best museums, and you will see that the fore claws are just in the same 
forward attitude as those of a dog, or a common bear, when he walks or 
stands. But this would be an intolerable attitude for the ant-tear. The 
length and curve of his claws canuot admit of such a position. When he 
walks or stands, his feet have somewhat the appearance of clubhands. He 
goes entirely on the outer side of his fore feet, which are quite bent inwards , 
the claws collected into a point, and going under the foot. In this position 
he is quite at ease; while his long claws are disposed of in a manner to 
render them harmless to him, and are prevented from becoming dull and 
worn, like those of the dog, which would inevitably be the case, did their 
points come in actual contact with the ground: for his claws have not the 
