§29. 



THE MEGATHERIUM. 167 



to them refer to some striking character ; as Meg along x, 

 from the enormous size of the claw : —Megatherium,, or 

 enormous wild animal, from its colossal proportions: — 

 Mylodon, or molar-tooth animal, from the peculiarity of 

 its dental organs. 



29. The Megatherium. — This creature was seven 

 feet high, and nine long, and therefore larger than the 

 largest rhinoceros ; but this comparison by no means con- 

 veys a proper idea of its bulk, since its proportions are 

 perfectly colossal, the thigh-bone being three times as large 

 as that of the elephant, and the pelvis, or haunch-bone, 

 twice the breadth. It possessed no incisor teeth, and the 

 grinders, which are seven inches long, are of a prismatic 

 form, and, like those of the Sloth, composed of dentine and 

 cement.* They are so formed, that the crown always pre- 

 sents two cutting, wedge-shaped, salient angles. As in an 

 adze, a plate of steel is placed between two of iron, so as to 

 project in a line, in like manner these teeth have in the 

 centre a cylinder of ivory, which is protected by a plate 

 of denser structure, and an external coating of cement ; 

 they are, therefore, admirably adapted for cutting and 

 bruising vegetable substances. The entire fore-foot is 

 about a yard in length, and armed with strong claws. The 

 pelvis measures five feet in width, and the sacral aperture 

 of the spinal marrow is one foot in circumference ! This 

 enormous size was suitable to the habits of an animal 

 requiring to maintain an upright posture for a considerable 

 time, while employing its fore feet in digging up roots, or 

 in severing and pulling down the young trees and branches, 

 which doubtless constituted the food of this colossal 

 creature. 



The Megatherium was intermediate between the Sloths, 

 Armadillos, and Ant-eaters ; for while in its skull and 



* See Professor Owen's " Odontography/' vol. i. p. 338. 



