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CHAPTER VII. 



7i¥^ TONGUE OF A SNAKE. 



PART 111.-/7;? USES, 



ONE more function in which the tongue has no part it 

 is important first to mention. ' It is supposed to be 

 concerned in the function of voice, that is, hissing,' says Mr. 

 Frank Buckland in his Curiosities of Natural History, i860. 

 Now, as this is an extremely popular book, and as Mr. 

 Buckland was a very popular writer, and much quoted and 

 believed in from his pleasant and genial style, and his many 

 opportunities, it is necessary to explain that the tongue is 

 often or generally in its sheath while the snake hisses, and 

 therefore has no part ivhatever in the ' function of voice.' 



More recently still, a writer in 1876 is under the same 

 impression. It is well known that the contributors to that 

 excellent magazine, the Leisure Hour, are for the most part 

 persons of good literary standing. However, in the matter 

 of snakes we are all only learners. 



There are in the magazine referred to, three chapters * On 

 Snakes,' occupying, with the illustrations, about eight pages, 

 in which the general subject is treated. 



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