STRANGE ANIMALS AND THEIR WAYS. 375 



contrary, it is of conical shape, and very thick at the base. 

 Finally, the rather elongated head, terminating in a regular 

 snout, has at its extremity a buccal opening rather larger 

 than in the ant-eater, but yet far smaller than in swine. 



2. The teeth, numbering five or six pairs in the lower 

 jaw and six or seven in the upper, increase in size from the 

 first to the one before the last on each side. Their struc- 

 ture is peculiar, being far less dense than in most mamma- 

 lia, and having no coating of enamel. The grinding surface 

 is flattened, and the single root is pierced with a number of 

 holes in its periphery. The slender, protractile tongue is, 

 as in nearly all of the Edentata, covered with a viscous sub- 

 stance, designed to secure the small insects on which the 

 animal lives. The short, heavy feet terminate, the anterior 

 in four digits, the posterior in five, all armed with strong, 

 hoof-like claws. In the posterior feet, as in the anterior, 

 the external lateral digits are a little shorter than the 

 others. 



3. It will be seen that the body is swollen like a full 

 skin-bottle, and furrowed with creases which radiate from 

 the abdominal region between the paws. The latter are of 

 enormous size, and the tail, which is soft and flabby, falls 

 to the ground by its own weight. The general appearance 

 of the animal is at once mean and grotesque. Looked at 

 from behind, it resembles a bag, the long ears projecting 

 on each side being the ends of the string by which the 

 mouth of the bag is tied. 



4. This orycteropus lives in pairs in the plains of Kor- 

 dofan, where it is called by the Arabs abudelatif, i. e., 

 "the father that owns claws." In the daytime it lies hid- 

 den and doubled up in a deep hole, which it digs in the 

 loose soil of the plain by means of its broad, sharp claws. 

 Toward evening it quits this hiding-place and begins to 

 move about, advancing either by leaps, or else with an un- 

 steady gait, walking nearly always on the extremities of its 



