MEGATHERIUM. 
163 
ing. The shoulder-blade is much broader than 
long. The clavicles are perfect, and the two bones 
of the fore-arm are distinct and moveable upon 
each other. The fore limbs are longer than the 
hind. To judge by the form of the last pha- 
lanxes, there must have been very large pointed 
claws^ enclosed at their origin in a long sheath. 
There appears to have been only three of these 
claws on the fore feet, and a single one on the 
hind. The other toes seem to have been deprived 
of them, and, perhaps^ entirely concealed beneath 
the skin. 
The head is the greatest singularity of this 
skeleton. The occiput is elongated and flattened, 
but it is pretty convex above the eyes. The two 
jaws form a considerable projection, but without 
teeth, there being only four on each side above 
and below^ all grinders^ with a flat crown, and 
grooved across. The breadth of the branches of 
the lower jaw^ and the great apophysis placed on 
the base of the zygomatic arch, deserve particular 
notice. 
This quadruped^ in its characters, taken toge- 
ther, differs from all known animals; and each of 
its bones, considered apart, also differs from the 
corresponding bones of all known animals. This 
results from a detailed comparison of the skeleton 
with that of other animals, and will readily appear 
to those who are conversant in such researches; 
for none of the animals which approach it in 
bulk have either pointed claws, or similarly formed 
head, shoulder-blades, clavicles, pelvis, or limbs. 
