ANT-EATERS. 407 



Of a peaceable disposition, it makes its solitary way 

 through the forest ; but woe betide the hunter's dogs, or any 

 other animals, which venture to assail it ! With one blow of 

 these sharp weapons it rips up its assailant, or hugs it in a 

 close embrace, where its own thick skin resists the teeth of 

 its foe ; and, able itself to endure hunger longer than any 

 other animal, it keeps it thus till starved to death. 



Vast numbers of ants and termites swarm in the tropical 

 forests of South America, of great varieties of form and mode 

 of life and occupation. Their business in the economy of 

 nature is chiefly the consumption of decayed vegetable matter, 

 which would otherwise contaminate the atmosphere. They 

 are furnished with incalculable powers of increase, and, to 

 prevent their too great excess, other animals have been 

 created to prey on them. The chief creature engaged in that 

 work is this most extraordinary denizen of the forest — the 

 ant-bear, or great ant-eater (Myrmecophaga jubata), called also 

 the tamanoir. It often measures, from the tip of its snout 

 to the extremity of its tail, eight feet ; and though it .seems 

 wonderful that so large an animal should be able to subsist 

 solely on such minute insects, yet, from the formation of its 

 mouth, it is unable to consume any other. It has a long 

 slender head, with a pointed snout ; and its mouth, entirely 

 destitute of teeth, is furnished with a long flexible tongue, 

 covered with a glutinous saliva. This it passes lightly over 

 the swarms of ants which rush out when it attacks their 

 dwelling, and they, adhering to it, are speedily dragged into 

 its maw. 



Its body is covered with long, coarse, shaggy hair, except 

 on the head, where it is short and close ; while its black 

 bushy tail is of great size and length. It is plantigrade 



