1831 - 1841 .] 
THE MEGATHERIUM. 
129 
on imagination, not founded on the putting together of 
many and various dislocated fragments discovered at distant 
times and intervals, but founded on one entire animal 
disinterred from the alluvial districts in the neighbourhood 
of Buenos Ayres. * 1 * * * 
“The history of the megatherium—in plain English, ‘Great 
beast 5 —is very remarkable. It is most nearly allied to the 
family of the sloth, whose structure is very anomalous, 
and has been misunderstood by almost every naturalist, 
including Buffon, and even the immortal Cuvier himself. ... 
“ I will illustrate by one example, the specimen before 
us, the method of investigation, which Cuvier has pointed 
out and followed, that beautiful and simple method of 
investigating the structure of every animal, whether of this 
world or of the past. The system of Cuvier is to begin 
with the parts that are most important, first with the head 
anatomical knowledge he says he derived most important aid in his 
investigation of the animal, and this gentleman’s beautiful drawings 
of the teeth and head were used on the occasion of the lecture. 
Dr. Buckland begged his audience to judge of the “ gigantic ” size of the 
pelvis by the following fact, that Mr. Clift, loaded with all his honours, 
passed bodily through it, “ so that he has come a second time into the 
world through this cavity in the pelvis of the megatherium ! ” 
1 This enormous animal, the megatherium, had been brought to 
England by Woodbine Parish, his Majesty’s Consul at Buenos Ayres. 
It was discovered by a peasant, who, passing the river Saiado in a 
dry season, threw his lasso at something he saw half covered with 
water, and dragged on shore the enormous pelvis of the animal; the 
rest of the bones were obtained by turning aside the current by means 
of a dam. The animal was about eight feet high and twelve feet long, 
and its teeth, though ill adapted for the mastication of grass or flesh, 
are wonderfully contrived for the crushing of roots. The fore feet, 
nearly a yard in length, were armed with three gigantic claws, each 
more than a foot long, and forming most powerful instruments for 
scraping roots out of the ground. The most curious history is that 
of the megatherium, with his double skull, like a fireman’s helmet — 
See “ Bridgewater,” 3rd edition, p. 144, 
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