ORDER EDENTATA. 309 



lines, soldered together ; the under part is covered with 

 white silken hair. The upper part of the head is covered 

 with a continuation of the dorsal scale. The toes are five 

 on all the feet ; the anterior feet are furnished with ex- 

 cessively long laterally-compressed nails, with the external 

 edges and the points sharp. The tail is rigid, bent under 

 the abdomen. The total length is not much above five 

 inches, the girth posterior to the shoulders four inches, and 

 of the tail little more than an inch. 



From this abbreviated statement, it may be collected, 

 that the body altogether is of a cylindrical shape, and in 

 the figure, the line from the tip of the nose to the rect- 

 angular angle at the tail, deviates but little from a straight 

 line ; underneath also, with the exception of the insertion 

 of the limbs, the line is almost parallel with that above, 

 but inclines regularly from the throat to the tip of the nose, 

 which terminates in a sharp point. 



The teeth are incisors, %; canine-teeth, ££; cheek-teeth, §§; 

 the crowns of the two first approach to a point, and thus 

 much resemble canine-teeth ; the six remaining are all 

 nearly flat on the crown, their structure is simple; a cylinder 

 of enamel surrounds a central pillar of bone, there being 

 no division into body and root ; the lower half is hollow, 

 the cavity representing an elongated cone. The cavity of 

 the cranium is spacious ; two long processes project ob- 

 liquely forward, upward, and outward, from the os frontis 

 anterior to the cavity of the cranium, and directly above the 

 malar bone, giving to the front of the skull an aspect totally 

 unique ; these prominences are hollow, communicating with 

 the frontal sinuses, and must contribute in a great measure 

 to enlarge the organ of smell. The shell which covers the 

 upper part of the body and neck is composed of about 

 twenty-four transverse series of plates. The ear is patulous, 

 situated behind the eye, which is small and black, and like 

 the ear, nearly hidden by long silky hair. The extremity 



