ught it would, to the thicket, it ran on to the house of its
owners, which was at a distance of about two hundred yards.

The paca and agouti belong to the peculiar family of the rodent order
confined to South America, and which connects the Rodentia to the
Pachydermata--the order to which the elephant, horse, and hog belong.

The fossil toxodon resembled the Rodentia in its dentition, and, at the
same time, was nearly related to the elephant. These facts make it
probable that these animals are living representatives of a group which
existed at a distant epoch of the world's history, and which possessed a
structure partaking of the character of the two great orders--Rodentia
and Pachydermata--now so widely distinct in the majority of forms.

THE ARMADILLO.

In days gone by, huge monsters--their backs covered with bony armour--
ten feet and upwards in length, some perhaps of the bulk of the
rhinoceros, crawled along the plains of South America. They have become
creatures of the past, and their places have been taken by others of a
similarly curious formation, of which even the giant armadillo, when
compared to them, is a mere pigmy. These creatures abound in all parts
of the continent, from Paraguay to Venezuela; but, incased as they are
in coats of complete armour, and running so quickly, and so rapidly
digging into the earth, they can rarely be overtaken by the hunter.

The armadillo (Dasypus) belongs to the order of Edentata. The armour,
which covers the whole body, consists of a triangular plate on the top
of the head, a large buckler over the shoulders, and a similar one
covering the haunches; while between the solid portions a series of
transverse bands intervene in such a manner as to allow the creature to
move its body in a variety of postures. The tail is likewise covered
with a series of calcareous rings. It can, in consequence of this
peculiar conformation of its covering, roll itself up, like the
hedgehog, into a ball, and thus present a solid surface, impervious to
the attacks of birds of prey or small quadrupeds. The part over the
shell is covered with short hairs, which appear between the joints of
the armour. It has a pointed snout, long ears, thick, short limbs, and
powerful claws. With these claws it burrows with extraordinary
rapidity, and can inflict severe wounds.

The common armadillo, or the poyou, is about twenty inches in length,
including the tail. As its hearing is very acute, an