Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/737

* EDEN. 641 EDENTATA. himself to the people by his prudence and kindli- ness. The most serious controversy in which he held out against the people was that over the fees of public otlicers. In a proclamation of No- vember 24, 1770., he asserted that it was his pre- rogative to settle such fees, and although he maintained his position until the institution of the Provisional tiovernment, the colonists blamed only his advisers without becoming ciiil)ittcrcd against him. The death of Lord ISalliniurc in September, 1771, luidcrniined the Proprietary Government, for the loyalty of the colonists did not extend to the illegitimate son, Henry Har- ford, who became the next proprietary, and dur- ing the absence of their Governor, who went home to act as an e.xecutor of his brother-in-law's estate, great advances were made toward inde- pendence. He remained in the colony until .Tune 23, 1770, when, Maryland having detinitely com- mitted herself to the principles of tlu> Kevohition, and having virtually declared the Proprietary Government at an end, he embarked on a British war-vessel. During his term as Governor he had assumed the rule of apologist for the colony, and had believed in its loyalty to the end. He re- turned to Maryland in 1784, and died in Annapo- lis, on September 2d of that year. Consult: Stciner, "Life and Administration of Sir Robert Eden," in the Johns Hopkins University Studies in Histnrieal and Politieal Science, Sixteenth Series, Xos. vii.-i.x. (Baltimore, 1898). EDEN, William, See Auckland, Baron. EDEN HALL, Luck of. See Luck of Eden Hall. E'DENTA'TA, or BRU'TA (Lat. nom. pi., toothless, from e, out -f- dens, tooth). An order of Manunalia, established by Cuvier, w'ho re- marked that, although brought together by a purely negative character, the Edentata have, nevertheless, some positive mutual relations, par- ticularly in the great claws which approximate to the nature of hoofs: also in a certain slowness or want of agility, obviously arising from the pecu- liar organization of their limbs. He included among them, however, the monotreines, now en- tirely separated. The ant-eaters and pangolins are the only Kdentata that are absolutely destitute of teeth ; but none of the order have any teeth in the fore part of their Jaws, and their teeth are comparatively imperfect in structure, being des- titute of enamel and distinct roots: they grow from a distinct pulp, are all alike, and (except in Tatusia) are not preceded by a set of milk- teeth. The sloths alone subsist on vegetable food. the rest chiefly on insects or on animalsubstances in a decaying state. The Edentata form one of the smallest orders of mammals; its head- quarters are in South America, but some species are found in .frica and southern Asia. All are clothed with coarse hair, which in the sloths and ant-eaters completely covers the body; in the pangolins is united into overla])|)ing plates or .scales: and in the armadillos is very sparsely scattered over the body, which is otherwise pro- tected by dermal plates. The Edentata are generally ranked as the lowest of the placental mammals, not merely because of the condition of the teeth, but because the brain is small and poorly developed, the cerebrum not nearly cover- ing the cerebellum, and being perfectly smooth. The order is generally grouped in five tribes or suborders, the sloths (Tardigrada), which are characteristic of South America; the pangolins (Scjuamata), found only in Asia and Africa: the armadillos (Loricata), found from Texas south- ward in America; the true ant-eaters (Vernii- linguia), found only in South America; and the aard-varks (Fodientia), found only in South Africa. Xo living Edentata are known in Europe. Consult: Rapp, .l;ia(oniie Vntersucliun- ijrn iihcr die Kdentata (2d cd., Berlin, 1852) ; Elower, "Jlutiml Allinitics of the Edentata," in Proceedings Zoological Society of London (Lon- don, 1882) ; Thomas, "A ililk Dentition in Orycteropus," in Proceedings Royal Society of London, vol, xlvii, (London, 1800) ; Beddard, Mammalia (London, 1902); also authorities re- ferred to under the various groups, as Slotii, etc. See Plate of Ant-Eater.s. Fossil Edentata. Remains of fossil eden- tates have been found rarely in the Tertiaries of Europe and Africa. The centre of greatest de- elopnient seems to have been South America, during ancient times as well as at present, though some imperfectly known forms, more nearly like the normal mammals in dentition, having incisor teeth on both jaws and the nor- mal premolar and molar teeth, have been dis- covered in the Eocene deposits of North America. The paleontologic evidence does not support the hypothesis that the edentates repre- sent primitive forms of mammals, but it does show that they have been derived by regressive evolution from higher normal eutherian types, and that they constitute a degenerate series of mammals, the exact origin of which is, however, unknown. See Degeneration as a Factor in Evolution ; and Extinction of Species. No fossil form of the sloths (family Brady- podidiE) or ant-eaters (Myrmeeophagidse) have been found, but an extinct family (Megathe- riida?) presents characters intermediate between these two modern groups. They were mostly mammals of gigantic size, such as Megatherivim, Mylodon (qq.v.), Scelidotherium, and Jlega- lonyx. the remains of which are found conimoidy in the Pleistocene deposits of South America, and occasionally in the Pleistocene cave deposits of North America, as far north as Kentucky. The armored edentates, such as the armadillos and glyptodonts, are connected with the megathe- riums through Slegalonyx, which has ossified plates imbedded in its skin. These isolated plates became united into transverse rows in the armadillos and into a solid carapace in the glyptodonts. The gigantic glyptodon (q.v.) and the allied Doedicurus. from the Pleistocene beds of Argentina, have the body inclosed in a solid massive carapace made of polygonal bony plates that are firmly soldered together in the adult animals, but loosely joined in the yoimg individ- uals. The tail also is covered by heavy plates. The total length of the skeleton varies from twelve to twenty feet. Armadillos with mov- able transverse rows of dermal plates are found fossil in the Tertiary deposits of Patagonia, and the earliest forms show no close poinCs of rela- tionsliip with the glyptodonts. The genera are Chlamydotherium. Dasypus. Eutatus. and Proeu- tatus, of which the first mentioned attained the bulk of a rhinoceros. Compare G. o1)ONTA. Bibliography. A. S. Woodward. Oiillincs of Vertebrate Paleontology (Cambridce, ISOS) ; Nicholson and T.ydekker. Manual of Paleontology (Edinburgh, 1889) ; Ameghino, Enumt'ralioii