404 NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



becomes fine as a spider's web. His fur lias so much the 

 bue of the moss which grows on the branches of the trees 

 that it is very difficult to make him out when he is at rest. 



8. The male of the three-toed sloth has a longitudinal 

 bar of very fine black hair on his back, rather lower than 

 the shoulder-blades ; on each side of this black bar there is 

 a space of yellow hair, equally fine ; it has the appearance 

 of being pressed into the body, and looks exactly as if it 

 had been singed. If we examine the anatomy of his fore 

 legs, we shall immediately perceive, by their firm and mus- 

 cular texture, how very capable they are of supporting the 

 pendent weight of his body, both in climbing and at rest ; 

 and, instead of pronouncing them a bungled composition, 

 as a celebrated naturalist has done, we shall consider them 

 as remarkably well calculated to perform their extraordinary 

 functions. 



9. As the sloth is an inhabitant of forests within the 

 tropics, where the trees touch each other in the greatest 

 profusion, there seems to be no reason why he should con- 

 fine himself to one tree alone for food, and entirely strip it 

 of its leaves. During the many years I have ranged the 

 forests, I have never seen a tree in such a state of nudity ; 

 indeed, I would hazard a conjecture that, by the time the 

 animal had finished the last of the old leaves, there would 

 be a new crop on the part of the tree he had stripped first, 

 ready for him to begin again, so quick is the process of 

 vegetation in these countries. 



10. There is a saying among the Indians that when the 

 wind blows the sloth begins to travel. In calm weather 

 he remains tranquil, probably not liking to cling to the 

 brittle extremity of the branches, lest they should break 

 with him in passing from one tree to another ; but, as soon 

 as the wnnd rises, the branches of the neighboring trees be- 

 come interwoven, and then the sloth seizes hold of them, 

 and pursues his journey in safety. There is seldom an 



