THE SLOTH. 
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of a blackish colour ; the eyes are small, 
black, and round; the ears also are small, 
and lie close to the head. The hair on the 
top of the head projects over and gives to the 
animal a very peculiar and grotesque phy- 
siognomy. Its general colour is a greyish 
brovi'n ; and the hair, which thickly covers the 
body, especially the hack and thighs, is of mo- 
derate length and extremely coarse. 
The most particular account that we can 
find of the hahits of the sloth is that given by 
Kircher, the Jesuit. Its figure, he says, is 
extraordinary : it is about the size of a cat, 
has a very ugly countenance, and long claws 
like fingers. It sweeps the ground with its 
belly, and moves so slowly that it would 
scarcely go the length of a bowshot in a fort- 
night, though constantly in motion. It lives 
generally on the tops of trees, and takes two 
days in crawling up one, and as many in get- 
ting down. Nature has doubly guarded H 
