But if he was placed upon a smooth and well-trodden part
of the road, he appeared to be in much distress. Within doors, the
favourite position of this sloth was on the back of a chair; and after
getting all his legs in a line on the topmost part of it, he would hang
there for hours together, and often with a low and plaintive cry would
seem to invite the notice of his master. The sloth does not suspend
himself head downward, like the vampire bat, but when asleep he supports
himself from a branch parallel to the earth. He first seizes the branch
with one arm, and then with the other; after which he brings up both his
legs, one by one, to the same branch; so that, as in the Engraving, all
the four limbs are in a line. In this attitude the sloth has the power
of using the fore paw as a hand in conveying food to his mouth, which he
does with great address, retaining meanwhile a firm hold of the branch
with the other three paws. In all his operations the enormous claws with
which the sloth is provided are of indispensable service. They are so
sharp and crooked that they readily seize upon the smallest inequalities
in the bark of the trees and branches, among which the animal usually
resides, and also form very powerful weapons of defence.
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