26 LITTLE FOLKS 
to creep on his fore knees ; and then his toes, of which he has three 
on each foot, are furnished with claws, which are splendid to stick 
into the bark and hang on by, but uncomfortable to walk on. 
More than this, the toes are joined by skin to their very tips, and 
the foot can't be put flat down ; only the innerside of it touches 
the ground. So you can see he was not made to walk with head 
up, like other creatures, but to hang from the limbs of trees, like 
the one in the picture. 
He is not awkward on the tree. When he is seriously disturbed 
he can run, (if you can call it running) as fast as any body. 
He is a strange fellow in other respects. He has no tail — for 
one thing — and no ears, at least none that can be seen. And he 
has no front teeth, indeed scarcely any teeth at all. 
It seems to us that when he goes to sleep he must forget to 
hold on, and fall to the ground. But such an accident never hap- 
pens to him. He can bend the last joint of his toes in such a w r ay 
as to make a strong hook of each claw, and when these are stuck 
firmly into the wood, he hangs as safely as possible, on twelve 
hooks, you see. 
When he wants to eat, he either pulls himself along to his 
food, or hangs on by three legs, while the fourth pulls the food to 
him. 
He is a little larger than a large cat, and lives in warm coun- 
tries, especially South America. He is dressed in a coarse, shaggy, 
long hair, which looks like dried grass and perfectly protects him 
from insects. 
Mamma Sloth is never troubled with a large family to take 
care of. She has but one baby at a time, and carries it about with 
her till it is big enough to hang on for itself. 
Hanging on is the main business of life — to a Sloth. 
