§ VI Edentata, or Toothless Animals
This animal, which is sometimes also called the Ai, in reference to a noise it makes when caught, and frequently when moving through the forest, is most curiously formed. The arms or fore legs are nearly twice as long as the hind legs: the claws also are larger than the foot, and bent inwardly, so as to prevent the animal from placing the ball of its foot on the ground. From these peculiarities in its construction the progress of the Sloth on land is extremely slow and laborious, for being incapable of supporting himself on his feet, he is compelled to take advantage of every little inequality in the ground to drag himself along; but he is not intended to be a terrestrial animal. He lives in trees, always hanging below the branch, with its back to the ground; and for a life of this kind, its long arms and hooked claws are admirably adapted. Mr. Waterton, whose long residence in the wilds of South America, and whose habits of close observation, render him an excellent authority, observes, that when the Sloth travels from branch to branch of the tree which it inhabits, particularly in windy weather, it moves with such rapidity as to make it quite a misnomer to call it a Sloth. “The Sloth,” says Mr. Waterton, “in its wild state, spends its whole life in the trees, and never leaves them, but through force or accident; and what is more extraordinary, not upon the branches, like the squirrel and monkey, but under them. He moves suspended from the branch, he rests suspended from the branch, and he sleeps suspended from the branch. Hence his seemingly bungled composition is at once accounted for; and in lieu of the Sloth leading a painful life, and entailing a melancholy existence upon its progeny, it is but fair to conclude, that it enjoys life just as much as any other animal, and that its extraordinary formation and singular habits are but further proofs to engage us to admire the wonderful works of Omnipotence.”
The common Sloth has always three toes; but there is another kind, called the Unau, which has only two toes, and much shorter fore legs.
The female Sloth has only one young one at a time, which hangs to her breast, and makes a kind of cradle of her body, during her journeys from branch to branch; in fact, it appears never to quit her, till it is able to provide for itself. When hanging from the branch, she hides her young one in her thick, matted hair, which resembles in texture and appearance dry withered grass, and, indeed, is so like the rough bark and moss on old trees, as to render the animal scarcely distinguishable. It was formerly asserted, when the Sloth has got possession of a tree, it will not descend while a leaf or bud is remaining; and, that in order to obviate the necessity of a slow and laborious descent, it suffers itself to fall to the ground; the toughness of its skin and the thickness of its hair securing it from any unpleasant consequences. This, however, like many other statements regarding this much maligned animal, is erroneous; in the dense tropical forests which he inhabits the Sloth has rarely any occasion to descend to the earth; but he takes advantage of a windy night, when the branches of the trees become interlaced, to make his way with great ease from one place to another.
Nature seems to have been singularly careful in the preservation of this animal, for she has surrounded it with a strong coat of armour to protect it from its enemies. When closely pursued, it assumes the shape of a ball; and, if near a precipice, rolls from one rock to another, and escapes without receiving any injury. The shell, which covers the whole of the body, is composed of numerous bony plates, very hard, and of a square shape, united by a kind of cartilaginous substance, which gives flexibility to the whole. The Armadillo lives principally on roots, carrion, and ants; and in a wild state resides in subterranean burrows, like the rabbit. It is a native of South America. There are several species differing chiefly in the number of their bands. When naturalists wish to obtain a specimen of the Armadillo in its native country, they are obliged to employ an Indian to dig one out of its hole; and as the holes are almost innumerable, only a few of them containing Armadillos, the Indians try them first by putting a stick down, when, if a number of musquitos rise, the Indians know the hole contains an Armadillo, as, if there were none, there would be no musquitos.
The body of the Great Ant-eater is covered with exceedingly coarse and shaggy hair. Its head is very long and slender, and the mouth but just large enough to admit its tongue, which is cylindrical, nearly two feet in length, and lies folded double within it. The tail is of enormous size, and covered with long black hair, somewhat like the tail of a horse. The whole length of the animal, from the end of the snout to the tip of the tail, is sometimes seven or eight feet. Its food consists principally of ants, which it obtains in the following manner:—When it comes to an ant-hill, it scratches it up with its long claws, and then unfolds its slender tongue, which much resembles an enormously long worm. This being covered with a glutinous matter or saliva, the ants adhere to it in great numbers: these it swallows alive, repeating the operation till no more are to be caught.
He also tears up the nests of wood-lice, which it in like manner discovers; but should it meet with little success in its pursuit of food, it is able to fast for a considerable time without inconvenience. The motions of the Ant-eater are in general very slow. It swims, however, over great rivers with ease; and, on these occasions, its tail is always thrown over its back. With this extraordinary member, when asleep, or during heavy showers of rain, the animal is also said to cover its back; but at other times he carries it extended behind him. The Ant-eater is a native of South America.
This extraordinary creature has the bill and webbed feet of a duck, united to the body of a mole. It is a native of Australia, where it is found on the banks of rivers, in the sides of which it burrows and forms its nest. It feeds on aquatic insects and small molluscous animals, always, however, rejecting the shells of the latter, after crushing them in its mouth, so as to extract the body. A number of these animals are always found together; but it is very difficult to watch their habits, as their sense of hearing is so acute, that they disappear at the slightest noise, plunging into the water, in which they swim so low, that they only look like a mass of weeds floating on the surface.
When the animal feeds, he plunges his beak into the mud, just like a duck; and appears to be equally at home on land and in water. Two young ones that were kept for some time at Sydney, by Mr. Bennet, were very fond of rolling themselves up like a hedgehog, in the form of balls. They often slept in this position, and “awful little growls” issued from them when disturbed. They were fed with worms, and bread and milk; but captivity did not seem to agree with them, and they soon died. They dressed their fur by combing it with their feet, and pecking at it with their beaks, seeming to take great delight in keeping it smooth and clean.
The shape of this animal is so extraordinary, that when a specimen was first sent to Europe, it was supposed to have been manufactured, by fixing the beak of a duck into the head of some small quadruped, with the intention to deceive. Subsequent experience has proved, beyond the possibility of a doubt, the existence of the animal, without in the smallest degree diminishing the wonder excited by its first appearance, as it seems to partake, in almost equal parts, of the nature of quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles.
The Australian Hedgehog (Echidna hystrix), has a long and very slender muzzle, at the end of which is a very small mouth, containing a long tongue, which the creature can extend at pleasure. The body is short and rounded: it is covered with strong sharp spines mixed with hair; and its tail is so short that it was at first doubted whether it had one. The male has a spur upon each hind leg, which was long supposed, but it seems erroneously, to possess venomous properties. Both the Platypus and the Australian Hedgehog, although arranged here with the toothless quadrupeds, are generally considered by zoologists to be most closely related to the Marsupials, or Pouched Mammalia.