84 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 



ground. In this covered way thousands are perpetually 

 passing and repassing; and if you destroy part of it, they 

 turn to, and immediately repair it. 



Other species of Ants again have no covered way; but 

 travel, exposed to view, upon tlie surface of the earth. 

 You will sometimes see a string of these Ants a mile long, 

 each carrying in its mouth to its nest a green leaf, the size 

 of a sixpence. It is wonderful to observe the order in which 

 they move, and wilh what pains and labour they surmount 

 the obstructions of the path. 



The Ants have their enemies as well as the rest of ani- 

 mated nature. Amongst tlie foremost of these stand the 

 three species of Ant-bears. The smallest is not much larger 

 than a rat; the next is nearly the size of a fox; and the 

 third a stout and powerful animal, measuring above six 

 feet from tlie snout fo 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 posses- 

 sion of which would assist him in self-defence, and without 

 the power of burrowing in the ground, by which he might 

 conceal himself from his pursuers, he still is capable of 

 ranging through these wilds in perfect safety; nor does he 

 fear the fatal pressure of the serpent's fold, or the teeth of 

 the famished Jaguar. Nature has formed his fore-legs won- 

 derfully thick, and strong, and muscular, and armed his 

 feet with three tremendous sharp and crooked claws. 

 Whenever he seizes an animal with these formidable wea- 

 pons, he hugs it close to his body, and keeps it there till 

 it dies through pressure, or through want of food. Nor 

 does the Ant-bear, in the mean time, suffer much from loss 

 of aliment, as it is a well-known fact, that he can go 

 longer without food, than, perhaps, any other animal, ex- 

 cept 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. 



Examine a figure of this animal, in books of natural histo- 

 ry, 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 is a distorted and unnatural 

 position; and, in life, would be a painful and intolerable 

 attitude for the Ant-bear. The length and curve of his 



claws cannot admit of such a position. When he walks or 

 stands, his feet have somewhat the appearance of a club- 

 hand. 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 ac- 

 tual contact with the ground; for his claws have not that 

 retractile power which is given to animals of the feline 

 species, by which they are enabled to preserve the sharp- 

 ness of their claws on the most flinty path. A slight in- 

 spection of the fore-feet of the Ant-bear, will immediately 

 convince you of the mistake artists and naturalists have 

 fallen into, by putting his fore-feet in the same position as 

 that of other quadrupeds; for you will perceive that the 

 whole outer side of his foot is not only deprived of 

 hair, but is hard and callous; proof positive of its being 

 in perpetual contact with the ground. Now, on the con- 

 trary, the inner side of the bottom of his foot is soft and 

 rather hairy. 



There is another singularity in the anatomy of the Ant- 

 bear, I believe, as yet unnoticed in the page of natural 

 history. He has two very large glands situated below the 

 root of the tongue. From these is emitted a glutinous 

 liquid, with which his long tongue is lubricated when he 

 puts it into the ants' nests. These glands are of the same 

 substance as those found in the lower jaw of the wood- 

 pecker. The secretion from them, when wet, is very 

 clammy and adhesive, but, on being dried, it loses these 

 qualities, and you can pulverize it betwixt your finger and 

 thumb; so that, in dissection, if any of it has got upon the 

 fur of the animal, or the feathers of the bird, allow it to 

 dry there, and then it may be removed without leaving 

 the least stain behind. 



The Ant bear is a pacific animal. He is never the first 

 to begin the attack. His motto may be " Noli me tan- 

 gere." As his habits and his haunts differ materially from 

 those of every other animal in the forest, their interests 

 never clash, and thus he might live to a good old age, and 

 die at least in peace, were it not that his flesh is good food. 

 On this account, the Indian wages perpetual war against 

 him, and as he cannot escape by flight, he falls an easy 

 prey to the poisoned arrow, shot from the Indian's bow at 

 a distance. If ever he be closely attacked by dogs, he 

 immediately throws himself on his back, and if he be for- 

 tunate enough to catch hold of his enemy with his tremen- 

 dous claws, the invader is sure to pay for his rashness 

 with the loss of life. — Water ton. 



