LECTURE III. 75 



elegant animal, scarcely larger than a squirrel, 

 and measuring little more than seven inches from 

 the nose to the tail, which is longer than the whole 

 body and head, and is also strongly prehensile : 

 the snout is slightly bent, rather sharpened, and 

 of a tubular structure ; the legs short, with the 

 fore feet furnished with only two claws on each, 

 but of excessive size in proportion to the limb. 

 The hind-feet have each four claws, of moderate 

 size. The colour of the animal is an elegant pale 

 yellow-brown, and the hair is beautifully undulated 

 or waved. This species, which is called the two- 

 toed Ant-Eater , Myrmecophaga didactyla of Lin- 

 naeus, is a native of South America, where it re- 

 sides on trees, and lives on insects, and particularly 

 on a species of Ants, which form their nests on 

 the trees it frequents. An excellent figure of this 

 species of Ant-Eater has been given by Edwards, 

 in his Gleanings of Natural History. 



The last species of Ant-Eater which I shall 

 mention, is a native of Australasia or New Hol- 

 land, and differs from all the rest in being covered, 

 not with hair, but with strong and sharp quills or 

 spines, similar to those of a Porcupine, but shorter 

 in proportion. This highly curious species usually 



