Although without an armour to its body, and provided with only a thick skin and bristles, the Orycteropus has a great resemblance in many points of its anatomy to the Armadillos of America. It is more closely allied to them than to the other Edentata. It is one of the order of Edentata, for there are no front teeth in the jaws, the incisors and canines being absent. The teeth are found in the back part of the mouth, and there are five on each side and in the upper and lower jaws, or twenty in all; there are also some small teeth which fall out during the growth of the animal. As might be expected from the very simple nature of the diet, the teeth are not at all complicated in their structure. They increase in size from before backwards, the last tooth but one being the largest, and all are peculiar in their minute construction. The first permanent tooth, which may be called a molar, is cylindrical in shape, and consists of a centre of very remarkable substance, for the body of the tooth is composed of a great number of vertical canals placed side by side, and running up the tooth. It was this interesting structure, so different to that of other animals, which led Cuvier to compare the teeth to pieces of cane. Outside this part of the tooth is a hard and more solid substance. When the teeth are unworn, this outer covering covers their top, but as it wears off the tubular appearance is seen, and the ends of the tubes become exposed. The teeth have no fangs like those of such orders of Mammalia as the Carnivora and Insectivora, and they increase in length by growth from below, so that the wear above is continually compensated for. The second tooth resembles the first in its minute construction, but appears like two cylinders fixed together, a longitudinal groove indicating the junction, and this is the appearance presented by most of the others. The hindermost teeth resemble the first molars. The dental number varies according to age, and the presence or absence of the teeth which are not permanent. The jaws, in which the teeth are fixed, are long, and the lower one is low, but there is an ascending back part, or ramus; consequently, the face is long and low. The eye is placed far from the ear, and is small. Its bony case, or orbit, and its surrounding bones, are somewhat remarkable for an Edentate, for there is a lachrymal bone, and the tear canal is open on the bony face. Moreover, the malar bone is united to the ear bone by a complete arch, the zygoma, and the deficiency so remarkable in some other Edentates is thus not observed. The pre-maxillary bones are also to be seen, in front of the face. In this completeness of the bones of the face this animal is a true mammal, but in the nature and extent of the ear bones, the Orycteropus has some resemblance to reptiles and birds. [Illustration: SKULL OF THE CAPE ANT-EATER.]