FLYING ANIMALS— THE SLOTH. 



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and then again projecting it forward by a sudden jerk of its long, flexible neck. By 

 means of this wonderful organization, the nimble parasite feels completely at home in 

 the furry coat which has been assigned to it as a pasture ground, and whisks along as 

 easily through the hairy thicket as the monkey through the bush-ropes of the forest. 



Though incapable of a prolonged flight like the bats, several other tropical quadrupeds 

 have been provided with extensions of the skin, which give them the power of supporting 

 themselves for some time in the air, and of making prodigious leaps. Thus, by means 

 of an expansile furry membrane reaching from the fore feet to the hind, the Flying 

 Squirrels {Pteromys) bound, or rather swiftly sail, to the distance of twenty fathoms 

 or more, and thus pass from one tree to another, always directing their flight ob- 

 liquely downwards. They very rarely descend to the ground, and when taken or 

 placed on it, run or spring somewhat awkwardly with their tail elevated, beginning to 

 climb with great activity as soon as they reach a tree. 



The Galeopitheci are in like manner enabled to take long sweeping leaps from tree 

 to tree, by means of an extension of their skin between the anterior and posterior 

 limbs on each side, and between the posterior limbs, including also the tail. These 

 extraordinary animals are natives of the islands of the Indian archipelago. They in- 

 habit lofty trees in dark woods, to which they cling with all four extremities. During 

 the day time, they suspend themselves like bats from the branches, with their heads 

 downwards, but at night they rouse themselves and make an active search for food, 

 which consists of fruits, insects, eggs, and birds. They are inoffensive, but on at- 

 tempting to seize them, they inflict a sharp scratch with their trenchant nails. 



The Anomaluri of the west coast of Africa, which have only been known to the 

 world since 1842, and possess a most remarkable tail, covered on the lower surface of 

 its base with imbricated horny scales, resemble the galeopitheci by the wing-like ex- 

 pansion of their skin, and no doubt the investigations of travelers will bring to light 

 other animals endowed with similar parachutes. 



"The piteous aspect, the sorrowful gestures, the lamentable cry of the Sloth all 

 combine to excite commiseration. While other animals assemble in herds, or roam in 

 pairs through the boundless forest," so writes an eminent naturalist, the sloth leads 

 a lonely life in those immeasurable solitudes, where the slowness of his movements 

 exposes him to every attack. Harmless and frugal, like a pious anchorite, a few 

 coarse leaves are all he asks for his support. On comparing him with other animals, 

 you would say that his deformed organization was a strange mixture of deficiency and 

 superabundance. He has no cutting teeth, and though possessed of four stomachs? 

 he still wants the long intestines of ruminating animals. His feet are without soles' 

 nor can he move his toes separately. His hair is coarse and wiry, and its dull color 

 reminds one of grass withered by the blasts of surly winter. His legs appear de- 

 formed by the manner in which they are attached to the body, and his claws seem 

 disproportionately long. Surely a creature so wretched and ill-formed stands last on 

 the list of all the four-footed animals, and may justly accuse Nature of step-motherly 

 neglect !" 



When seeing a captured sloth painfully creeping along on even ground, sighing and 

 moaning, and scarcely advancing a few steps after hours of awkward toil, the observer 

 might well be disposed to acquiesce in the foregoing remarks, and to fancy he had 

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