THE TONGUE OF A SNAKE. 127 



knowledge demanded by the reptile is conveyed, or, at 

 least, confirmed by this organ. 



' Coloreel says Dumeril of the tongue, as botanists say 

 of the part of a plant ordinarily green, as, for instance, a 

 calyx ; ' coloured,' but not what colour. This is precisely 

 as we may describe the colour of a snake's tongue. My 

 attention was first drawn to this on reading one of Dr. 

 Arthur Stradling's communications to Land and Water, 

 April 2, 1 88 1. * It would be interesting to know why 

 some snakes have red tongues and others black,' he 

 writes. * Here beside me, in a glass case, are two little 

 snakes, both belonging to the same genus {Tropidonotus) 

 — a seven-banded (T. leberis), and a moccasin {T. fasciatiis), 

 both hailing from the United States, and both alike in 

 their habits and choice of food ; yet it is a case of ronge 

 et noir with their lingual appendages.' 



After reading this, I noticed the varieties of colour in 

 all the ' forked tongues ' that exhibited themselves at the 

 Zoological Gardens. Black or very dark tongues, I think, 

 predominate ; and next to black, brownish or olive tints, 

 resembling those of the snake itself But not as a rule ; for 

 some very light snakes have dark tongues, and the converse. 

 In two small green tree snakes of distinct genera, one had 

 a pale pink or flesh-coloured tongue, and the other a black 

 one. Some tongues are almost white, while a few are red. 

 There seems to be as much caprice as in the colour of the 

 human hair and eyes ; and as physiologists have traced 

 some sort of connection or relationship with complexions 

 and constitutions in these, so ophiologists may, after a time, 

 discover a similar relation or sympathy between the colour of 



