58 CLASS-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY. 



§ 221. They produce only one young at a time, which 

 they always carry on their back. The flesh of these ani- 

 mals is eaten by the natives, 



§ 222. The Tico-toed Sloth (Bradypus didactylus) is 

 distinguished from the Three-toed Sloth, by having only 

 two claws on its feet, and not being so slow. 



§ 223. The Great Ant-eater (Myrmecophaga jubata) is 

 as large as a bulldog, and toothless. His body is covered 

 with long, coarse, black hair, mixed with gray. He has z 

 long slender nose, small black eyes, short round ears, a 

 narrow mouth, a slender tongue two feet and a half long, 

 which lies double in his mouth, with four very large, strong, 

 and hooked claws on the fore-feet, and five on the hind- 

 feet. The tail, two and a half feet long, is clothed with 

 very coarse black hair, a foot long. The length of the 

 body from nose to tail is about four feet. The Ant-eater 

 is a native of South America, and feeds exclusively on 

 ants, which he procures by digging the ant-hills with his 

 sharp claws, and seizing them with his long and slippery 

 tongue. But when domesticated, he is fed with bread, or 

 meal tempered with water, and even meat. 



§ 224. He does not move and walk so fast as a man ; and 

 when pushed "forward, he rises and sits on his hind-feet 

 like a dog, in order to defend himself with his sharp claws, 

 with which he is able to tear in pieces even the Jaguar. 



§ 225. This animal is not able to do any harm to man, 

 on account of its slowness, and it is easily killed *by stri- 

 king it on the head with a cane. The flesh of the Ant- 

 eater, which is black and without fat, is eaten by some 

 people. 



§ 226. The Two-toed Ant-eater (Myrnecophaga didac- 

 tyla) is not larger than a rat ; is covered with short, fine, 

 and woolly pale-yellow hair ; has two claws on the fore and 

 four on the hind feet ; a prehensile tail, like a monkey ; and 

 is found in South America, upon trees, where he feeds on 

 those ants which build their hills around the branches. 



§ 227. The Duck-bill (Ornithorhinchus paradoxus) is 

 of the size of a large cat, of a pale-yellow color, and prin- 

 cipally distinguished by its flat bill with two grinders, en- 

 tirely like that of a duck, as well as by its feet, w r hich are 



