THE TONGUE OE A SNAKE. 103 



the serpent in its gall, others in its tongue, and others in its 

 teeth.' David seems to place it in its tongue : — Ps. cxl. 3, 

 ' They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent' So 

 also Job, XX. 16, 'The viper's tongue shall slay him.' 



The sacred writers, however, quite understood that serpents 

 did bite as well as ' sting.' Solomon made the same distinc- 

 tion that is observable in Shakspeare, ' biteth like a serpent, 

 stingeth like an adder.' 



In fact, the tongue of an adder, whether in allusion to ' the 

 worm of the Nile,' or to our own pretty little * deaf-adder,' 

 seems still to bear the evil character which it has borne 

 from time immemorial. 



Superstition, prejudice, and ignorance are still rampant 

 whenever a snake is thought of Inherited and educated 

 antipathies regarding them are still so strong that some 

 persons will not even allow themselves to //;/learn their mis- 

 conceptions ; others by misrepresentations do their best to 

 prevent a true comprehension of their habits from being 

 better understood ; and, again, there are those who know 

 better, and who are even engaged in instructing others by 

 their pen, but who fall into the habit of encouraging horror 

 and hatred, instead of reason, truth, and a tolerance towards 

 a creature wisely produced to fulfil its part and to perform 

 its duties in the great balance of organized beings. 



Some journalists religiously keep up the delusion about 

 the tongue of a snake, by using a prejudicial prefix. From 

 a pile of newspaper cuttings and other printed matter rela- 

 tive to snakes, I transcribe a few sentences at random, to 

 illustrate what is meant : — ' Its horrid forked tongue.' ' Its 

 slithering tongue.' * Its villanous poisonous tongue,' etc. 



