176 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
good round pace, and were you to see liim, as I have done, 
passing from tree to tree, you would never think of calling him 
a sloth/-’ 
But Button, trusting too implicitly to rumour, gave the ant- 
eater the credit of climbing trees, which it never does. 
A very splendid case of animals in the New South Wales 
court may be appropriately referred to in this place, inasmuch 
as their native country is South America, from whence they 
have been transported to Australia, with the hope of acclima- 
tizing them, and making their habits and their economy alike 
useful in that distant continent. These are the Alpacas and 
Llamas, the species of Auchenia. This case contained seven 
animals of the brown, grey, and black varieties, and well 
illustrated the important advances which the colonial breeders 
Avere making in the production of I natrons lone/ wool, by means 
of judicious selection in breeding ; in which particular the 
exhibitors express themselves as sanguine that in a feAv years 
they Avill not only compete Avith, but surpass Peru, from 
whence the animals originally came. The pure alpaca has 
a finer, heavier, and longer staple of avooI, than the pure 
llama, but a dash of llama blood infused into the alpaca 
produces a larger framed, hardier constitutioned, heavier, 
finer, and more glossily-fleeced animal than could ever be 
obtained by the close in-and-in breeding so zealously canned 
out by the Indians of Peru. One remarkable use of these 
animals in Australia, is the folloAving : — Previous to the arrival 
of the alpacas the native dogs caused great havoc, both 
by day and night, to a flock of sheep ; since their arrival, 
howeA r er, they have not been troubled by these pests ; and 
every day may be seen a few sheep accompanying one of 
the flock to graze, returning Avith it at sunset to fold. In 
South America it is customary to haA r e eight or ten Avether 
alpacas Avith a flock of one thousand eAve sheep ; these 
alpacas conduct the flock to pasture, defend it from the foxes, 
condors, and strange dogs during the day, and bring it 
back to fold by sunset. They attack the dogs in concert, 
and with boldness, using their fore feet as offensive Aveapons, 
and Avith good effect. The supporters of the alpacas in Sydney 
unhesitatingly declare that the perfect acclimatization of these 
animals in that colony is no longer a matter of doubt. 
The Jaguar (Fells onca ) of the British Guiana collections, 
together with the Ocelot ( F . pardalis), and the Puma (F. 
concolor), represent the great cats in America-, where the lion, 
tiger, and leopard are unknown. The jaguar is an expert 
climber of trees, and although not very dangerous to man, 
commits great havoc among small animals and the flocks and 
herds of the Indians. They are very numerous, and according' 
