Some of the fossil Tortoises discovered in the sub-Himalayan beds possessed a carapace twelve feet long by six feet in breadth, which must have corresponded to an animal from eighteen to twenty feet in length; and the bones of the legs were as massive as those of the Rhinoceros. The _Megatherium_, or Animal of Paraguay, as it was called, is, at first view, the oddest and most remarkable animal we have yet had under consideration, where all have been, according to our notions, strange, extraordinary, and formidable. The animal creation still goes on as if-- “Nature made them and then broke the die.” [Illustration: Fig. 185.--Schistopleuron typus. One-twentieth natural size.] [Illustration: XXVII.--Skeleton of the Megatherium (Clift).] If we cast a glance at the skeleton figured on the opposite page (PLATE XXVII.), which was found in Paraguay, at Buenos Ayres, in 1788, and which is now placed, in a perfect state of preservation, in the Museum of Natural History in Madrid, it is impossible to avoid being struck with its unusually heavy form, at once awkward as a whole, and ponderous in most of its parts. It is allied to the existing genus of Sloths, which Buffon tells us is “of all the animal creation that which has received the most vicious organisation--a being to which Nature has forbidden all enjoyment; which has only been created for hardships and misery.” This notion of the romantic Buffon is, however, altogether incorrect. An attentive examination of the _Animal of_ _Paraguay_ shows that its organisation cannot be considered either odd or awkward when viewed in connection with its mode of life and individual habits. The special organisation which renders the movements of the Sloths so sluggish, and apparently so painful on level ground, gives them, on the other hand, marvellous assistance when they live in trees, the leaves of which constitute their exclusive food. In the same manner, if we consider that the _Megatherium_ was created to burrow in the earth and feed upon the roots of trees and shrubs, every organ of its heavy frame would appear to be perfectly appropriate to its kind of life, and well adapted to the special purpose which was assigned to it by the Creator. We ought to place the Megatherium between the Sloths and the Anteaters. Like the first, it usually fed on the branches and leaves of trees; like the latter, it burrowed deep in the soil, finding there both food and shelter. It was as large as an Elephant or Rhinoceros of the largest species. Its body measured twelve or thirteen feet in length, and it was between five and six feet high. The engraving on page 403 (PLATE XXVII.) will convey, more accurately than any mere verbal description, an idea of the form and proportions of the animal.