THE TONGUE OF A SNAKE. 121 



tongue of a snake is endowed with peculiar sensibilities ; 

 and it is the more astonishing, therefore, that reason and 

 observation have so long been blinded and enslaved by 

 prejudice regarding it. 



Some naturalists think that the sense of smell lies in 

 antennae. The sense of smell itself is dull in snakes ; yet 

 they have means of ascertaining what other animals learn 

 by smell. Says Huxley, ' The great majority of the sensa- 

 tions we call taste are in reality complex sensations, into 

 which smell and even touch largely enter.' ^ It is certain 

 that the snake's tongue is in constant use for some purpose 

 or other, though beyond what we see of its form and actions 

 we can only speculate, or, at best, draw conclusions from 

 observation. 



Both Dumeril and Lenz give the result of their own 

 observations. The former, however, devotes so many pages to 

 the tongue and its functions under the various headings of 

 * touch,' ' nutrition,' * the senses,' etc., that it will be necessary 

 to curtail a good deal, particularly as this great author has 

 been quoted by those other physiologists whose words were 

 given above. Of the sheath into which the tongue is received 

 he says : — ' Une gaine cylindrique, charnue ; mais I'extrcmitc 

 de cette langue est fourchue, ou divisee en deux pointes 

 mobiles, vibrantes, susceptible dc se mouvoir independam- 

 ment I'une de I'autre, de s'ecarter et d'etre lancces, pour 

 ainsi dire : ce que la fait regarder par le vulgaire comme une 

 sorte de darte, auquel meme quelques peintres ont donnc 

 dans leurs tableaux la forme d'un fer dc flechc. Le vrai est 

 que cette langue est moUe, humidc, trcs faiblc, et que Ton a 



^ Elementary Lessons in P/iysiofogy. London, 1S75. 



