The Ant-eaters feed upon a variety of insects. They are specially organized for procuring this food. Completely destitute of teeth, the head is terminated by an elongated tube, which encloses a very long tongue, something like a worm. This slender tongue, being darted into the ant-hills, all the interstices where the insects take refuge yield numerous victims, which adhere to it through the gummy secretion with which it is covered. The Ant-eaters are armed with sharp claws, useful both as instruments for scratching and weapons of defence. The most remarkable species is the Great Ant-eater, the largest of the family. It grows to more than a yard and a half in length, from the tip of its long nose to its tail. Its coat is rough, abundant and of a dark color. The tail, covered with very long and extremely bushy hair, has the power of being raised like a plume, and is more than a yard in length. The strength of this animal is so great that it can defend itself successfully against the ferocious Jaguar, which it either hugs, like a Bear, or tears to pieces with its formidable claws. It lives in damp forests in which its insect food is most abundant. There are two other species of the Ant-eater, which live more or less on trees and enjoy, on this account, one of the characteristics which are peculiar to American Monkeys—that of grasping branches firmly with the tail, a portion of which is bare of hair underneath, and capable of being twisted round any object. These species are the Tamandua, an Ant-eater about three feet long, which divides its time between the ground and the thick foliage of trees; and the Little, or Two-toed Ant-eater, so called because it has only two toes, instead of four, on the front feet. This latter species is a native of Brazil and Guiana. It but seldom descends to the ground, and is not much larger than a Rat. THE PANGOLINS. The Pangolins are also Ant-eaters, but the peculiar nature of the covering of their bodies will not allow them to be classed with the preceding family. The hair of their coat is glued together so as to form large scales, inserted in the skin in nearly the same way as the nails of a Man, and lapping one over the other, like the slates of a roof. From their strong resemblance to Reptiles, the name Scaly Lizard has been applied to these creatures. The Pangolin (from the Javanese word Pangoeling, meaning to roll into a ball) have short legs, furnished with stout claws; they are devoid of any external ear and have no trace of teeth. Their method of feeding is exactly the same as that of the Ant-eaters; but their head, although elongated in shape, is not quite so long, and their tongue is less slender. They dwell in forests, where they dig burrows, or lodge in the hollow of trees. When they are attacked, they roll themselves into a ball, like the Armadillo; at the same time their scales are erected, forming an impregnable buckler. This family possesses several species.