THE MANIS. 
25 
The different species of Manis deserve a passing notice. 
They are all burrowers, and are furnished with armour even 
better calculated for defence than that of the armadillo, inas- 
much as it assumes somewhat of an offensive as well as a defen- 
sive character. All these animals are covered with large, sharp- 
edged scales, of a stout horny consistence, which overlap each 
other, like the tiles of a house. They are of wonderful hard- 
ness, and form a buckler which is impenetrable to any weapon 
possessed by the carnivorous animals of the regions wherein it 
resides. A specimen of the Bajjerkeit, or Short-tailed 
Manis of India ( Manis pentadactyla ), now before me, affords a 
good example of this weapon-resisting power. Edward Arnold, 
Esq., to whom I am indebted for this specimen, possessed it in 
a living state for a considerable time, and, when he was about 
to leave India, determined to kill the animal and take the skin 
with him. Accordingly, he fired three barrels of a Colt’s re- 
volver pistol at the Manis, but without the slightest effect, and 
was at last obliged to introduce the point of a dagger under the 
scales, and drive the weapon into the heart. On examining the 
interior of the skin, the wound caused by the double-edged 
dagger is plainly perceptible, but I cannot find the slightest 
trace of the bullets. One of the balls, indeed, recoiled upon 
the intending destroyer. 
When 'the Manis is alarmed, it rolls itself up, wraps its tail 
over the body, and lies in conscious security, the horny scales 
acting as a buckler, and their sharp edges deterring enemies 
from the attack as much as the quills of the porcupine or the 
spines of the hedgehog. 
The curious Aard Vark of Southern Africa ( Oryctefopus 
Capensis ) is another of the earth-burrowers, residing, for the 
most part, in great holes which it scoops in the ground. 
The name Aard Vark is Dutch, signifying Earth-hog, and is 
given to the animal on account of its extraordinary powers of 
excavation and the swine-like contour of its head. The claws 
with which this animal works are enormous, as, indeed, is need- 
ful for the task which they are intended to perform. They are 
