2l6 TlMEHRI. 
only be made to the stuffed specimens. Several of 
these are specimens of the two-toed sloths (Cholcepus 
didaftylus) and three-toed sloths (Bradypus trydafti- 
lus). The sloths are the prey of the harpy eagle, 
the jaguar, etc., and the curious hairy covering is 
apparently a modification brought about for proteftion 
owing to the resemblance which they thus bear to 
several parasitic plants with elongated bristly-looking 
leaves, for which they might be mistaken. In the three- 
toed-sloth there are more vertebrae, or joints of the back- 
bone, in the neck, and in the two-fcoed sloth there are 
more pairs of ribs, than in any other mammals. These 
animals are striftly arboreal; while the armadillos, of 
which several forms are exhibited, are terrestrial and 
burrowing animals and are modified accordingly. The 
banded nature of the coat-of-mail in the armadillos 
allows of the rolling up of the body in the form of a 
ball for prote6live purposes. The number of teeth (all 
molars or back teeth) in the armadillos is considerable, 
and in the giant armadillo the number (98) is unique. 
In the hairy ant-eaters, of which specimens are 
exhibited of the three different groups, curious modifi- 
cations are met with. The face is more or less pro- 
duced to form a snout, the mouth is small, the 
tongue long and sticky for the purpose of securing their 
food, and teeth are quite absent. In the great ant- 
eater, ant-bear or tamanoir (Myrmecophaga jubata) , of 
which a small specimen is shewn, the snout is extremely 
long, the tail is very bushy and non-prehensile, and the 
animal is terrestrial ; in the middle ant-eaters (Ta- 
mandua sp.J the snout is shorter, but still elongated, the 
tail is prehensile, and the animals are arboreal ; while in 
