Lect. IV.] THE AARD-VARK. 97 



whose section sliows tliem to be similarly composed. 

 Tliis is a fact worth noticino:. 



But this earth-pig — it is a flattering title, he 

 is far below a pig in the scale of life — discourses 

 eloquently to us on the subject of extinction. If ever 

 there was a lonely creature this is one ; if ever there 

 was a generalised type this is one ; he has no near 

 relative, and his nature is that of a very peculiar 

 kind of Armadillo, luitJiout armour, and with a dash of 

 the true Ant-eater in him ; but quite unique, all the 

 while, having characters that he only possesses. 



There may have been a time when species and 

 genera of Aard-varks were as plentiful as blackberries, 

 but that time is past ; it cannot be that he is the 

 single descendant of a single line of mammalian life, 

 that never broke out into forks or branches. Taking 

 the Edentata as a whole — Ant-eaters, Pangolins, 

 Armadillos, Sloths — (but leaving out the Aard-vark), 

 I am strongly of opinion that they shot up suddenly, 

 so to speak, from the old prototherian stock. 



In the next group I have to treat of, the Insectivora, 

 I shall show reason to believe that these lingered, in 

 many cases for a time, in the metatherian territory ; 

 some of them seem to be improved Marsupials (Opos- 

 sums). 



Not so the Edentata ; these, I fancy, most of them, 



went through their metatherian stages in the dark ; they 



did not utilise embryonic characters that correspond with 



G 



