ORDER EDENTATA. 289 



one jaw to those in the other. The Encoubert, as to this 

 articulation, belongs to the first of these subdivisions, 

 though it differs from it in the incisive teeth. 



The articulation of the lower jaw in the second of these 

 subdivisions, similar to that of the rodentia, is by a longi- 

 tudinal condyle ; the cheek-teeth of these, of a laminous 

 form, and not cylindrical, and far from being alternate 

 in their reciprocal action, are in this manner : the teeth 

 in the lower jaw are in communication, by their external 

 surface, with the internal surface of those in the opposite 

 jaw, and as the lower jaw has only a longitudinal move- 

 ment, and the teeth placed successively, touch only at their 

 edges, their mode of trituration may be compared to the 

 action of two plates placed side by side, operating like 

 two saws. 



Organic characters of this importance bespeak animals 

 of different dispositions and habits, which ought not to be 

 called by one common name. M. F. Cuvier therefore pro- 

 poses to preserve the name Tatous for those of this genus 

 which have insisive teeth, and to call those Tatusees (a 

 common name for all the species mentioned by some travel- 

 lers) which are without ; and he proposes the name Prio- 

 donte as the sub-generic for such as have their teeth in a 

 laminous form. 



The covering of this animal consists, on the upper part 

 of the body, of several large plates of different shapes, with 

 a few single hairs from between them ; on the lower part 

 there is nothing but a smooth naked skin. The covering 

 of the head, which may be called the cap or helmet, is three 

 inches and a half in length, by two and a half in breadth ; it 

 commences about half an inch from the extremity of the 

 muzzle, and extends to the occiput, and is composed of 

 irregularly formed plates; under the eye may be seen a line 

 of small plates, which joins the lateral angle of the helmet ; 

 these diminish in size regularly from the first to the last : 



