13 



to its branches. When at last one of them has ac- 

 complished its end, it fastens itself to a tree, crawls 

 from branch to brancii, and by degrees strips the 

 whole of its foliage ; in this manner it remains 

 several weeks without moistening its food ; and when 

 it has consumed its store, and the tree is left quite 

 naked, unable to descend, it continues on till hunger 

 presses, which becoming more powerful than the 

 fear of danger, or even death itself, it drops to the 

 ground, without being capable of exerting any effort 

 to break the violence of the fall. Its manners are 

 sluggish to an excessive degree ; its general appear- 

 ance disgusting; its voice plaintive, piteous, and 

 even horrible. It can live a prodigious time without 

 food : Kircher says forty days. It has vast strength 

 in the paws, and fastens its claws into any thing with 

 such force, that they cannot be disengaged : hence, 

 when beasts of prey attack this animal, it adheres to 

 them so strongly, that they are both found dead in 

 each other's grasp* 



ANT-EATERS (MYRMECOPHAGA). 



These are placed next the Monkeys, near the 

 model of one of the Turrets, or Nests of the Termi- 

 tus or White Ants of Africa, which are often of the 

 height of ten feet, appearing at a distance like the 

 villages of the natives. 



