KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



31 



seemed pleased with his notice ; but it uttered no 

 noise or cry so long as we stayed to observe it. 

 This, however, proves nothing : it is said to utter, 

 when pleased, a peculiar whine, and we have the 

 highest authority for this fact. 



From the sense of smell to that of taste the 

 transition is direct. Let it here be premised that 

 the ant-eater has no teeth ; it is therefore strictly 

 edentate, as naturalists term it. The jaw-bones 

 are long, slender, and feeble. The mouth is a little 

 aperture at the end of the snout, and merely fitted 

 for the protrusion of a long, rapier-like, glutinous 

 tongue from its sheath ; as the natural food of this 

 animal consists principally of termite ants and 

 their pupae — the latter more especially — this long 

 viscous tongue is a most efficient instrument for 

 such a purpose. For the crushing of such food 

 teeth are not needed, as it is swallowed without 

 mastication, and doubtless with a copious flow of 

 saliva. But we have yet to describe the animal's 

 tongue, as it presented itself to our personal obser- 

 vation. We were contemplating the ant-eater, 

 while it sat up on its haunches, like a great 

 dog, with its long snout elevated ; suddenly 

 from its mouth a thin, dark, purplish, glossy 

 stream, like that of treacle, seemed to flow, cer- 

 tainly to the extent of more than two feet. In 

 this stream a slight vibration was perceptible, and 

 then, as if its current suddenly retrograded, it 

 glided upwards, and rolled back into its hidden 

 fount. This stream was the tongue. Many times, 

 both while the animal rested and while it traversed 

 its apartment, was this exhibition repeated, and 

 always with sufficient deliberation for the eye to 

 follow out the whole movement. We are assured, 

 however, that when employed in active service, a 

 breach in the wall of an ants' mound having been 

 effected, the movements of this organ are incal- 

 culably rapid, which we can readily believe. 



As we have said, our Brazilian stranger followed 

 the keeper, bearing in his hand a vessel of milk.* 

 In a short time, having, at our especial desire, 

 tested the olfactory sense of the animal, he indulged 

 it with a good draught of the coveted beverage. 

 We expected to see it lap the fluid up by some 

 action of the tongue ; perchance, dog-like ; per- 

 chance like that displayed when the organ is in- 

 serted into the sinuosities of the termites' mounds. 



* In noticing the diet of the animal in question, we 

 may observe that in its native wilds it is a destroyer of 

 termites ; but our captive cannot here be entertained 

 with such fare. As a substitute, it is furnished with a 

 supply of raw eggs, the shells of which are of course 

 removed. Of these it consumes about twenty-four daily ; 

 in addition to a pint of new milk, it also drinks a little 

 water. While we were listening to this statement, our 

 eyes rested upon a dead rabbit, cut open and somewhat 

 crushed, which lay on the floor of the apartment. We 

 asked whether it was not killed and placed there by way 

 of experiment. We found that it was so ; the ant-eater 

 had more than once in our presence applied its tongue to 

 this newly-killed animal, as if to taste the blood ; but 

 beyond this, during the previous night, it had taken in 

 —we can hardly say devoured— the greatest portion of 

 the softer viscera. It refused any preparation of grain. 

 Nevertheless, we learn from Dr. Schomburgk, that a 

 farinaceous preparation, namely, of cassada, was much 

 relished by individuals in confinement, in their native 

 regions. Minced fresh beef and even fish were also 

 acceptable, provided these viands were chopped up so 

 finely as to be under the prehensile command of the 

 little moveable upper lip. That our captive should be 

 enabled to draw in and swallow the tender viscera of a 

 young rabbit need not therefore surprise us. 



and is drawn back laden with the luscious food. 

 Not so, however ; it simply applied its tiny mouth 

 to the milk, and sucked it up gradually and quietly, 

 with the least perceptible sound. Not more deli- 

 cately does the horse sip its water from the trough, 

 than did the ant-eater its milk from the pan. A 

 thought crossed our mind at the time : how would 

 the ant-eater manage with boiled marrow-bones of 

 beef? would not the remarkable tongue be then 

 displayed in full action ? For once, at least, the 

 experiment might be worth a trial, if only for the 

 sake of witnessing the action of this organ. 



It may seem at first surprising that an animal so 

 bulky and massive as the ant-eater, can not only 

 subsist, but keep up its muscular strength and 

 condition, on such diet as that afforded by white 

 ants, or termites. The same observation applies 

 with even more force to the Greenland whale ; 

 but, in each instance, we draw our deduction from 

 erroneous premises : we do not take into account 

 the extremely nutritious quality of the food, and 

 the fact of its making up weight by the aggre- 

 gation of a multitude of minute units, so as to 

 counterbalance that of mass in solidity. Myriads 

 upon myriads of tiny beings are daily devoured both 

 by the whale and the ant-eater. Termite mounds 

 characterise the haunts of the ant-eater, and we 

 have described its structural fitness for demolish- 

 ing these insect fastnesses. It makes short work 

 in opening a breach, and then its tongue is brought 

 into full play. Soon, however, the startled ter- 

 mites, in order to escape the fate of the myriads 

 which first fell a sacrifice, take refuge in the deeper 

 and smaller galleries of the ruined edifice. But 

 vain are their efforts ; their enemy tears off huge 

 fragments of the galleried walls with his strenuous 

 claws, holds them firm with his left paws, and lei- 

 surely breaks them up with the right, the tongue in 

 the meantime performing its office with celerity. 

 When satiated, the ant-eater ceases the work of 

 destruction. It would appear that a considerable 

 quantity of the earthy materials of the ants' dome 

 is swallowed along with the insects themselves, 

 and Dr. Schomburgk supposes, perhaps correctly, 

 that this material aids digestion. 



Furnished with its tail, which can be used as 

 a penthouse, the ant-eater makes no nest or 

 burrow, but curls itself up, and is thus sufficiently 

 protected against the inclemency of the weather. 



Though generally deliberate in its movements, 

 the ant-eater can push its pace into a peculiar 

 trot, or long gallop, and is then not easily over- 

 taken ; indeed, it will keep a horse on the canter 

 for upwards of half an hour, and by no means 

 tires readily itself. 



The female posseses two pectoral teats, and pro- 

 duces only one young at a time, which soon clings 

 firmly to her back, and thus attached, is carried 

 about with her during her rambles. It remains 

 under her care for the space of a year, and then 

 shifts for itself. When pursued with her young 

 one on her back, the mother seeks safety in flight, 

 and holds on her course till fairly overtaken ; she 

 has indeed been known to keep a horgg on the 

 full canter for half an hour. When hard pressed 

 she assumes a posture of defence, raises herself 

 upon her haunches, and resting on one fore-paw, 

 strikes with the claws of the other at her enemy, 

 changing from the right to the left limb, and vice 

 versa, as the latter alters his position of attack. 



