390 LEAVES FROM THE 



And here is the solution of the so-called fascination, in 

 which Linnaeus himself believed; for in the Sy sterna 

 Naturce (1 766) the reader will find, under Rana Bufo, 

 the following assertion: Insecta in fauces fascino 

 revocat 



I always imagined — (says that acute observer, the younger Mr. 

 Arscott) — that the root of its tongue was placed in the forepart of 

 its under jaw, and the tip towards its throat, by which the motion 

 must be a half-circle ; by which, when its tongue recovered its 

 situation, the insect at the tip would be brought to the place of 

 deglutition. I was confirmed in this by never observing any in- 

 ternal motion in his mouth, excepting one swallow the instant its 

 tongue returned. Possibly I might be mistaken, for I never 

 dissected one, but contented myself with opening its mouth and 

 slightly inspecting it. 



No, my good Mr. Arscott, you were not mistaken ; and 

 you have described the process beautifully; but how is 

 the action performed? 



The anomalous structure and position of the tongue in 

 most of the anurous or tailless batrachians* — that is, tail- 

 less in their last and most perfect state — are very striking. 

 Soft and fleshy almost throughout, that organ is, in the 

 toad, unsupported at its base by any internal bone. The 

 OS hyo'ides is altogether absent, and the tongue is attached 

 anteriorly in the concavity formed by the two branches 

 of the lower jaw towards the symphysis, so that its root, 

 instead of being at the back of the fauces, is in the inte- 

 rior edge of the fore part of the lower jaw, and its free 

 extremity is in the back part of the mouth, and before 

 the aperture of the air-passages, when it is at rest. 

 When in action, it becomes considerably elongated, and 

 is projected sharply out of the mouth, as if it turned on 

 a pivot in the anterior edge of the jaw; so that, when 

 thro'wn out, the surface which was under when in repose 



* In Dactylethra, the tongue is attached at the back of the 

 mouth ; and Fipa has none. 



