"The skeleton of the chlamyphorus will be found to resemble that of the armadillo (_dasypi species plures_) more than any other known quadruped. In the peculiar ossification of the cervical vertebræ, in possessing the sesamoid bones of the feet, in the general form of all the bones, except those of the pelvis, as well as in the nature of the external covering, they are decidedly similar; they differ, however, in the form and appendages of the head, in the composition and arrangement of the coat of mail, and particularly in the posterior truncated extremity and tail. "There is a resemblance to be perceived in the form of some of the bones of the chlamyphorus to those of the _orycteropus capensis_ and _myrmecophaga jubata_, as might be expected in animals belonging to the same order. To the _echidna_ and _ornithorhynchus_ it is also similar in the form of the first bone of the sternum, and in the bony articulations, as well as the dilated connecting plates, of the true and false ribs. It becomes interesting to be able to establish even small points of similarity between the most extraordinary quadrupeds of New Holland and those of South America; that continent producing in the various species of _didelphis_ other resemblances to the _marsupiata_. In the form of the lower jaw, and in other points equally obvious, the chlamyphorus exhibits characters to be found in some species of _ruminantia_ and _pachydermata_. "In conclusion I may remark that in the composition and arrangement of its external covering, and in its very singular truncated extremity, the chlamyphorus is peculiar and unique; and if a conjecture might be hazarded, in the absence of any positive knowledge of the habits of the animal, it is probable that it occasionally assumes an upright position, for which the fattened posterior seems admirably adapted. It is also unique in the form and various appendages of the head, and most particularly in possessing an open pelvis, no instance of which, as far as I am acquainted, has ever as yet occurred in any species of mammalia." Since Mr. Yarrell's observations Dr. Buckland, in his description of the _megatherium_, has further pointed out the resemblances of the chlamyphorus to that fossil monster. [Illustration: CHLAMYPHORUS. _2/3 the Natural Size._] FOOTNOTES: [68] The word _Cuyo_, according to Angelis, in the Araucanian language signifies _arena_, or sand, which is the general character of the soil. [69] The cactus, which is found in every variety throughout the province of Cuyo, abounds in the neighbourhood of San Luis, and the natives collect the cochineal from it, and make it into cakes, which they use in dying their ponchos.