356 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



Apar of Buffon, B. tricindus of Linn^us. ... It was called tatu 

 apar by the Indians, apar meaning ' rolled up ' in their language. 

 Therefore, I retain the name of Tatu apar. . . . When rolled into 

 a ball, the strength of two persons is quite insufficient to unroll it, 

 as I assured myself by experiment. . . . The food of this animal 

 consists in fruits, grain, and insects. When rolled up one can 

 throw it to a distance, like a ball from the hand, without its 

 opening or suffering from it. 



"The Tatu vela of Azara, known by the name of tatu veludo 

 in Banda Oriental, the D. villosus of Linnseus, is probably found 

 in the extreme southern limits of Brazil. 



" The Tatu mulita of Azara, D. hybridus of Desmarest, is found 

 in the same region as the preceding. ... It is smaller than the 

 tatu veludo, . . . and may be only a variety of the tatu-ete. 



" The Tatu pichy of Azara is also in the same locality as the two 

 preceding species. ... Its habitat appears to extend to 42° S. lat., 

 where the cold in winter is as strong as about 50° N. lat. It is, 

 perhaps, only a dwarfed race of tatu p6ba, which it nearly 

 approaches." 



Sloths {Bradipodida). 



The sloths form a single group; they are phytophagous, and in 

 general appearance closely resemble monkeys. " The sloths . . . 

 are constructed to pass their lives suspended from the under surface 

 of the branches of the trees amongst which they live ; and for this 

 end their organization is singularly adapted. The fore-limbs are 

 much longer than the hind-limbs, and the bones of the fore-arm 

 are unusually movable. All the feet, but especially the fore-feet, 

 are furnished with enormously long curved claws, by the aid of 

 which the animal is enabled to move about freely suspended back 

 downwards from the branches. Not only is this the ordinary 

 mode of progression among the sloths, but even in sleep the 

 animal appears to retain this apparently unnatural position. 

 Owing to the disproportionate size of the fore-limbs as compared 

 with the hind-limbs, and owing to the fact that the hind-feet are 

 so curved as to render it impossible to apply the sole to the 

 ground, the sloth is an extremely awkward animal upon the 

 ground, and it has, therefore, recourse to terrestrial progression 



