Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/254

244. for digging. As in those animals, also, the inflection of the long claws during rest renders the contact of the sole with the ground impossible&#59; the Ant-eater rests entirely upon its outer edge, which is provided with a large callous pad for this purpose, and thus the claws are preserved from being worn and blunted in the action of walking.

Progression is, however, slowly performed&#59; the utmost exertions of these animals not availing to equal the ordinary pace of a man in walking. The eyes are small, the ears short, and round, the legs robust and very powerful, in the peculiar sphere of action which the wisdom of God has assigned to them. The tail is lengthened: in the two smaller species it is in part prehensile, and these species have the faculty of climbing trees, where they search for the arboreal termites and ants, and for wild bees. The Great Ant-bear, however, (Myrmecophaga jubata, .) has its tail, which it carries in an elevated position, covered: with long flowing vertical hair, reminding one of that of a Newfoundland Dog.

This animal, the largest species of the genus, is spread over the continent of South America from Colombia to Paraguay. It measures four feet and a half from the muzzle to the tail&#59; and the latter is upwards of three feet more: its height at the shoulders is about three feet and a quarter. The hair on the whole body is coarse and in some parts flattened, resembling withered grass: its prevailing colour is a mixture of deep brown with silvery grey&#59; a broad band of black runs obliquely along each side.

"It is almost incredible," says Azara, "that so robust and powerful an animal can procure suffi-