OEDEE OF EDENTATA. 
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which are used to scratch up the ground; ears pretty- well 
developed, upright, and pointed ; nostrils perforating an elongated 
snout, and detecting very acutely any odoriferous emanation ; a 
tail either long or rounded, or short and flat. In some species, the 
number of teeth is considerable : the Great Armadillo (D. gig as) 
has no less than ninety- eight. 
The Armadillos are natives of the great plains of South 
America, where they dig burrows, composed of one chamber, 
entered by numerous passages. They feed partly on vegetable 
and partly on animal substances, more especially insects and 
carrion. 
They are inoffensive and stupid in their nature. Their size is 
generally small ; the largest species — that just alluded to, which 
considerably exceeds all the rest — is not much more than a yard 
in length. The smallest of the species is about the size of a Rat ; 
it is called the Pichiy (D. minutus ). 
The Orycteroptjs (Geoffroy). — This family seems to have been 
created for one Mammal alone ( 0 . capensis), the Aard-vark, which 
is peculiar to Africa, abounding especially in the southern portion 
of this part of the world. 
The Aard-vark is short-legged ; its claws are thick, sharp, and 
almost like hoofs, indicating habits of an essentially burrowing 
nature. Its skin is hard, and covered with scanty and rough hair ; 
its head, which is very long and tapering, is terminated by a kind 
of snout. Its mouth is furnished with molar teeth of a very 
peculiar structure. They are small cylinders, with a crown, which 
is flat and devoid of enamel ; they are formed of a substance which 
is softer than usual, and indeed almost spongy in its nature, being 
constituted by an agglomeration of a large number of microscopic 
tubes, closely fitted to one another in a vertical direction. If a 
horizontal section is made of one of these teeth, it presents the 
appearance of a piece of cane. 
The Aard-vark measures rather more than three feet in' length, 
not including the tail, which is about a foot and a half long. 
Its height is eighteen inches. It lives in burrows, which it 
hollows out with great rapidity. When its head and fore-feet 
are buried in the ground, it maintains its position with so much 
obstinacy that the strongest man is unable to draw it out. 
