MEGATHERIUM. 
165 
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 Americaniim. 
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 
ncAV 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." 
