MR. GREW first described this animal from a skin preserved in the cabinet of the Royal Society in London. All the other armadillos have two bucklers, one on the shoulders, and the other on the rump, but this has but one, which is upon his shoulders. He is called the weasel armadillo, because his head is nearly of the same form as a weasel. From the description of this animal given by Grew, it appears, that his body is about ten inches in length, his head three, and his tail five; the legs two or three inches in height; the forehead large and flat, small eyes, and the ears an inch long, he has five toes on each foot, the three in the middle being the largest. The armour of the head and legs is composed of round scales, about a quarter of an inch diameter, that on the neck consisted of one piece, as did the buckler on the shoulders composed of several rows of scales like those of the armour; these rows on the buckler, in this species, as in all others are continuous, and join by a symphysis. The rest of the body, from the buckler on the shoulders to the tail, is covered with moveable bands, parted from each other by a supple membrane: these bands are eighteen in number; those nearest the shoulders are the largest, and are composed of small squares. The posterior are intermixed with round and square pieces, and the extremity of the armour near the tail is of a parabolic figure. The first half of the tail is encircled with six rings, composed of small square pieces, and the lower part is covered with irregular scales. The breast, belly, and ears, are naked, as in the other species. It should seem that, of all armadillos, this has the most facility to contract and roll himself up in a ball, by his moveable bands which extend to the tail.
Linnæus who must have seen the descriptions of Grew and Ray, who both agree with that we have given, has indicated this animal with one band only, instead of eighteen: founded on an evident mistake, by having taken the tatu seu armadillo Africanus of Seba for the tatu mustelinas of Grew, which even according to the descriptions of these two authors, are very different from each other. It is doubtful whether the tatou of Seba exists, at least as he has described him, but the animal given in Grew’s description is a real existing species.
All the armadillos come originally from America; they were unknown before the discovery of the New World. The ancients never mentioned them, and modern travellers all agree, that these animals are natives of Mexico, Brasil, Guiana, &c. and no one pretends to have seen this species in Asia or Africa. Some have, indeed, confounded the scaly lizards of the East Indies with the armadillos of America. Others thought they existed on the western coasts of Africa, because they have sometimes been transported from Brasil into Guinea. Bellon, who wrote above two centuries ago, and is one of the first who has given a short description, with the figure of a tatou, from a skin which he had seen in Turkey, says, that it came from the new continent. Oviedo, De Lery, Gomara, Thevet, Ant, Herrera, Father d’Abbeville, François, Ximenes, Staddenius, Monard, Joseph Acosta, De Laët, and all the more recent authors mention these animals as natives of the southern countries of America. Piso is the only one who has pretended, without any authority, that the armadillos were found in the East Indies, as well as in America; and it is probable, that he has confounded the scaly lizards with the armadillos, especially as they have been so called by the Spaniards; this error has been adopted by nomenclators, and those who have given descriptions of cabinets; who have not only admitted the existence of armadillos in the East Indies, but even in Africa, though none were ever in those two parts of the world, except such as have been transported from America.
The climate of these animals is not therefore, equivocal; but it is more difficult to determine the relative bulk of each species. For this purpose we have compared great numbers which are preserved in the king’s cabinet and those of others. We have also compared the descriptions of all authors with those of our own, without being able to ascertain the fact. It appears that the twelve and six banded are the largest, and that the three, eight, nine, and eighteen banded are the smallest. In the larger species the crustaceous substance is harder and more solid; the pieces which compose it are larger, and in a smaller number; the moveable bands encroach, less one upon the other; the flesh, as well as the skin, is harder, and not so savory. Piso says, that the flesh of the six banded is not eatable; and Nieremberg affirms, that it is unwholesome and pernicious. Barrere says, that the twelve banded has a strong smell of musk; and all authors agree in praising the flesh of the three banded, and particularly that of the eight, which is as white, and equally good as the flesh of a pig. They say also, that the small species dwell in marshy and low grounds, and that those of the large species are found on dry and high lands only.
These animals can all contract their bodies into a round form, with more or less facility. When they are contracted the defects of their armour is most visible in those who have it composed of the smallest number of pieces; the three banded then shews two large voids betwixt the bucklers and the armour on the back. None of them can roll themselves up in a ball so exact as that formed by the hedge-hog; when so contracted they represent the figure of a globe flattened at the two ends.
This singular crust, which covers them, is a bone composed of small contiguous pieces, and being neither moveable nor jointed, except at the partitions of the bands, are united by a symphysis, and may all be separated from each other if put on the fire. When the animal is alive these small pieces, both of the bucklers and the moveable bands yield to his motions, especially when he contracts himself, otherwise he could not possibly roll himself up. These pieces in different species are of different figures always as regularly disposed as an elegantly contrived mosaic work. The pellicle which covers the crust is a transparent skin, and has the effect of a varnish on the whole body; this skin, when taken off, changes the relievo of this natural mosaic, and gives it a different appearance. This crustaceous covering is only a surface independent of the interior parts of the animal’s body, his bones, and other organs, being composed like those of other quadrupeds.