The teeth of the armadillos are all of a simple cylindrical form, and stand apart from one another like those of the generality of Cetacea and Reptiles. They vary in number from 7 or 8 to 17 or 18 on each side of each jaw ; and are so arranged that when the mouth is closed the upper teeth fit into the interstices of the under, and these into the interstices of the upper teeth alternately. The animals never attempt to bite, nor has nature given them any other means of defence than the ease and rapidity with which they avoid danger by burrowing. Their food consists principally of fallen fruits, roots, and worms ; but they do not reject carrion, and have been known to penetrate into human graves when not properly protected by stones or brick-work. Azara informs us that ants are never found in the districts inhabited by the armadillos, and that these animals break into the ant-hills and devour the insects as greedily as the true Ant-Eaters. The ordinary food of the armadillos consists chiefly of the roots of the mandioc, of potatoes, maize, and other similar sub stances of a vegetable nature ; though, as already observed, without rejecting animal substances naturally soft or so far decomposed as to be easily torn without the help of canine teeth. They are also very destructive to the eggs and young of such birds as build their nests on the ground, and greedily devour worms, frogs, small lizards, and, Azara says, even vipers. The chief animal food of the armadillos, however, is derived from the immense herds of wild cattle which cover the plains and savannahs of every part of South America. These are rarely slaughtered but for the sake of the hide and tallow ; and as the carcasses are left to rot on the pampas or plains, the smell soon attracts vast crowds of carnivorous animals of various species, and among others great numbers of armadillos, which greedily devour the half-plitrid flesh, and soon become extremely fat and corpulent. In this condition, notwithstanding the filthy nature of their food, their flesh is esteemed a great delicacy both by the native Indians and by the Portuguese and Spaniards of America. The animal is roasted in its shell, and considered one of the greatest dainties which the country produces.
The armadillos see but indifferently, particularly in bright sunshiny weather ; but their sense of hearing is extremely acute, and amply compensates for any imperfection of sight. When alarmed by any unusual or strange sound they prick up their ears, stop for a moment to satisfy themselves of its distance and direction, then commence a precipitate retreat to their burrow, or, if that be too remote, begin to construct a new one. Smell is, however, by far the most acute of their senses. Azara tells a singular story, which strikingly illustrates the intensity of this sense in the armadillos, as well as the unerring cer tainty with which, by a kind of intuitive knowledge of the principles of engineering, they arc enabled to direct their subterraneous course to any particular point. "My friend Nogda," says he, "having arranged a trap for the purpose of taking Chibigouzous, and having placed in it by way of bait a cock, with a small quantity of maize to support him, it so happened that a few grains of the maize fell through between the boards which formed the bottom of the trap. An armadillo arrived during the night, and wishing to get at the maize thus accidentally spilt, opened a trench or burrow at some dis tance from the trap, and without deviating a hair's breadth from the straight line of his direction, pushed it on to the very spot where the grain had fallen, and possessed himself of the booty.' It is generally believed that the female armadillo brings forth but once during the year, but she produces at a birth frequently six, eight, or even ten young ones ; yet she has never more than four teats, and, according to the report of M. Azara, the most accurate and extensive
observer who has written upon the history of these animals, in some species only two—au anomaly with respect to the number of young and the number of teats which appears to contradict the general rule observable among other mammals. Azara indeed supposes that some of the young die for want of proper nourishment, and that the mother only rears those for which she has a sufficient supply of milk. This is however improbable, as we find it a general rule that only the number of young are produced at a time that can be successfully reared.
The tropical and temperate regions of South America are the original and proper habitat of all the known species of Armadillos. The armadillos are active hardy animals, and thrive and breed rapidly with a moderate portion of care in most temperate countries. Such of the species as prefer a vegetable food, and whose flesh is consequently the most palatable and wholesome, might even be domesticated with advantage, and bred in warrens, like rabbits. In their native climates, however, they still abound in such incredible numbers that the inhabitants will not be at the trouble of rearing what they can so readily procure to any required amount. When therefore the natives of Brazil or Buenos Ayres maintain the armadillo as a domestic animal, it is more for curiosity than for profit. The woods and pampas supply the wild animal in inex haustible abundance. They are most usually taken in traps during the night; or, when found in open day at any distance from their burrows, are pursued by small dogs, which intercept their retreat till the hunter has time to secure them. One species only when thus attacked has the faculty of rolling itself up into a round ball like a hedge-bog, but they are generally timid and extremely helpless, and none ever attempt to defend themseves either by using their teeth or claws.
Iu arranging the Armadillos, Baron Curler, for the facility of definition, has divided them into five small groups.
L The Cachicante2, which have 4 toes on the anterior and 5 on the posterior extremities, 7 teeth only on each side both of the upper and lower jaw, a pointed muzzle, and a long tail, surrounded by a succession of osseous rings, each of which is composed of a number of polygonal plates arranged in numerous series. The two middle claws are excessively largo and of equal length ; the lateral, particularly the internal, which represents the thumb, are much shorter, but all are powerful, trenchant, and well fitted for burrowing. To this division belongs 1. Dasypus Pcba, (Desmarest), the Peba, called Tatouhou, or Black Tatu, by the Guaranis, is extremely common in Paraguay, though it does not extend to the province of Buenos Ayres. This species is well figured in the original edition of Buffon's Naturelle,' and described by Daubenton under the name of Cachicanbe, which according to Gumilla is the generic name of the Armadillos among the Indians on the banks of the Orinoco. Azara calls it the Black Armadillo, from its Guarani name ; and it has been admitted into the generality of zoological catalogues under the somewhat ambiguous appellations of Dasypua novemcincius, D. octocinctics, and D. septoncinctu8,—three different species being thus formed from the same animal, under the erroneous supposition that the number of moveable bands between the bucklers of the shoulders and croup was invariable iu the same species.