OEDER OF EDENTATA. 317 



whicli are used to scratcli up the ground; ears pretty-well 

 developed, upright, and pointed ; nostrils perforating an elongated 

 snout, and detecting very acutely any odoriferous emanation ; a 

 tail either long or rounded, or short and flat. In some species, the 

 numher of teeth is considerable : the Great Armadillo {D. gigas) 

 has no less than ninety-eight. 



The Armadillos are natives of the great plains of South 

 America, where they dig burrows, composed of one chamber, 

 entered by numerous passages. They feed partly on vegetable 

 and partly on animal substances, more especially insects and 

 carrion. 



They are inoffensive and stupid in their nature. Their size is 

 generally small ; the largest species — that just alluded to, which 

 considerably exceeds all the rest — is not much more than a yard 

 in length. The smallest of the species is about the size of a Rat ; 

 it is called the Pichiy (D. minutus). 



The Orycteroptjs (Geoffrey). — This family seems to have been 

 created for one Mammal alone {0. capensis), the Aard-vark, which 

 is peculiar to Africa, abounding especially in the southern portion 

 of this part of the world. 



The Aard-vark is short-legged ; its claws are thick, sharp, and 

 almost like hoofs, indicating habits of an essentially burrowing 

 nature. Its skin is hard, and covered with scanty and rough hair ; 

 its head, which is very long and tapering, is terminated by a kind 

 of snout. Its mouth is furnished with molar teeth of a very 

 peculiar structure. They are small cylinders, with a crown, which 

 is flat and devoid of enamel ; they are formed of a substance which 

 is softer than usual, and indeed almost spongy in its nature, being 

 constituted by an agglomeration of a large number of microscopic 

 tubes, closely fitted to one another in a vertical direction. If a 

 horizontal section is made of one of these teeth, it presents the 

 appearance of a piece of cane. 



The Aard-vark measures rather more than three feet in length, 

 not including the tail, which is about a foot and a half long. 

 Its height is eighteen inches. It lives in burrows, which it 

 hollows out with great rapidity. When its head and fore-feet 

 are buried in the ground, it maintains its position with so much 

 obstinacy that the strongest man is unable to draw it out. 



