130 
LIFE OF DEAN BUCKLAND. 
[CH. V. 
and teeth, then to go downwards through the neck and 
back to its extremity in the tail. . . . 
“ In all animals the teeth are indicative of the character 
of the animal ; and next to the teeth the feet, and in the 
feet the claws, are indicative of the character: therefore, if 
we have the teeth and the feet alone, we are able at once 
to see, in the absence of all other parts, the class and genus 
of the animal whose teeth and feet we possess. 
“ We have before us a gigantic quadruped, which at first 
sight appears not only ill-proportioned as a whole, but 
whose members also seem incongruous and clumsy, if con¬ 
sidered with a view to the functions and corresponding 
limbs of ordinary quadrupeds. Let us first infer from the 
total composition and capabilities of the machinery what 
was the general nature of the work it was destined to 
perform ; "and from the character of the most important 
parts, namely, the feet and teeth, make ourselves acquainted 
with the food these organs were adapted to procure and 
masticate ; and we shall find every other member of the 
body acting in harmonious subordination to this chief 
purpose in the animal economy. In some parts of its 
organisation this animal is nearly allied to the sloth, and 
like the sloth presents an apparent monstrosity of external 
form, accompanied by many strange peculiarities of internal 
structure. . . . 
“ The megatherium affords an example of most extra¬ 
ordinary deviations and of egregious apparent monstrosity ; 
a gigantic animal exceeding the largest rhinoceros in bulk, 
and to which the nearest approximations that occur in the 
living world are found in the not less anomalous genera of 
sloth, armadillo, and chlamyphorus ; the former adapted 
to the peculiar habit of residing upon trees ; the two latter 
constructed with unusual adaptations to the habit of bur¬ 
rowing in search of their food and shelter in sand ; and all 
limited in their geographical distribution, nearly to the 
same region of America that was once the residence of 
the megatherium. 
“ The bones of the head most nearly resemble those of 
a sloth. The anterior part of the muzzle is so strong and 
