Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/243

Rh We have already described the ordinary habits of the Ai in a state of freedom, as witnessed by Mr. Waterton, and other travellers. Specimens

THE Al.

have also been repeatedly brought to Europe, and observed in captivity. Mr. Burchell remarked of some in his possession that they assumed during sleep a position of perfect ease and safety on the fork of a tree, their arms embracing the trunk, their backs resting on the angle of a branch, and their heads reclining on their own bosoms. The animal is thus rolled up nearly in the form of a ball&#59; the entire vertebral column, including the neck, assumes a nearly circular curve, and not only is the weight of the whole body maintained in an attitude of ease and safety, but the head is supported between the arms and chest, and the