MEGATHERIUM. \65 



the position of the mammas, &c. in order to de- 

 termine to which of these it approached the most. 

 In the mean time, I thought I might give it the 

 generic name of Megatherium, and the trivial 

 one of Americanum* 



" It adds to the numerous facts which apprize 

 us that the animals of the ancient world were all 

 different from those we now see on the earth ; for 

 it is scarcely probable that, if this animal still ex- 

 isted, so remarkable a species could have hitherto 

 escaped the researches of naturalists. It is also a 

 new and very strong proof of the invariable laws 

 of the subordination of characters, and the just- 

 ness of the consequences thence deduced for the 

 classification of organized bodies; and under both 

 these views it is one of the most valuable disco- 

 veries which have for a long time been made in 

 Natural History." 



