its narrowest point nearly equalling its
total length; the massive bones of the shank (tibia and fibula)
are amalgamated at their extremities; the heel-bone (calcaneum)
is nearly half a yard in length; the haunch-bones (ilia) are
from four to five feet across at their crests; and the bodies
of the vertebrae at the root of the tail are from five to seven
inches in diameter, from which it has been computed that the
circumference of the tail at this part might have been from five
to six feet. The length of the fore-foot is about a yard, and
the toes are armed with powerful curved claws. It is known now
that the Megathere, in spite of its enormous weight and ponderous
construction, walked, like the existing Ant-eaters and Sloths,
upon the outside edge of the fore-feet, with the claws more or
less bent inwards towards the palm of the hand. As in the great
majority of the Edentate order, incisor and canine teeth are
entirely wanting, the front of the jaws being toothless. The
jaws, however, are furnished with five upper and four lower molar
teeth on each side. These grinding teeth are from seven to eight
inches in length, in the form of four-sided prisms, the crowns of
which are provided with well-marked transverse ridges; and they
continue to grow during the whole life of the animal. There are
indications that the snout was prolonged, and more or less flexible;
and the tongue was probably prehensile. From the characters of
the molar teeth it is certain that the Megathere was purely
herbivorous in its habits; and from the enormous size and weight
of the body, it is equally certain that it could not have imitated
its modern allies, the Sloths, in the feat of climbing, back
downwards, amongst the trees. It is clear, therefore, that the
Megathere sought its sustenance upon the ground; and it was
originally supposed to have lived upon roots. By a masterly piece
of deductive reasoning, however, Professor Owen showed that this
great "Ground-Sloth" must have truly lived upon the foliage of
trees, like the existing Sloths--but with this difference, that
instead of climbing amongst the branches, it actually uprooted
the tree bodily. In this _tour de force_, the animal sat upon its
huge haunches and mighty tail, as on a tripod, and then grasping
the trunk with its powerful arms, either wrenched it up by the
roots or broke it short off above the ground. Marvellous as this
may seem, it can be shown that every detail in the skeleton of