study of the organic structure and mechanism of other animals. The adaptation of each part of the body of the Elephant, to produce extraordinary strength, and of every member of the Deer and Antelope to give agility and speed are too obvious to have escaped the attention of any scientific observer; but, it has been the constant practice of naturalists, to follow Buffon in misrepresenting the Sloths, as the most imperfectly constructed among all the members of the animal kingdom, as creatures incapable of enjoyment, and formed only for misery.
The Sloth does, indeed, afford the greatest deviations from the ordinary structure of the living quadrupeds; and these have been erroneously considered as imperfections in its organization, without any compensating advantage. I have elsewhere[1] attempted to show that these anomalous conditions are so far from being defects, or sources of inconvenience in the Sloth, that they afford striking illustrations of the varied contrivances, whereby the structure of every creature is harmoniously adapted to the state in which it was destined to live. The peculiarities of the Sloth, that render its movements so awkward on the earth, are fitted with much advantage to its destined office of living entirely upon trees, and feeding on their leaves: so also, if we consider the Megatherium with a view to its province of digging and feeding upon roots, we shall, in this habit, discover the explanation of its unusual structure, and apparently incongruous proportions; and find, in every organ, a relation of obvious convenience, and of adaptation to the office it had to discharge.[2]
- ↑ Linnean Transactions, Vol. XVII. Part 1.
- ↑ The remains of the Megatherium have been found chiefly in the southern regions of America, and most abundantly in Paraguay; it appears also to have extended on the north of the equator as far as the United States. We have, for some time, possessed detailed descriptions of this animal by Cuvier, Oss. Foss. vol. 5, and a series of large engravings, by Pander and D'Alton, taken from a nearly perfect skeleton, sent
