TONGUE OF ORNITHORHYNOHUS PARADOXUS. 453 



The Tongue of Ornithorhynchus paradoxus: 

 the Origin of Taste Bulbs and the parts upon 

 which they occur. 



By 



Edward B. Poulton, M.A., 



of Jesus and Keble Colleges, Oxford. 



With Plate XXXII. 



I AM indebted to Professor Moseley for kindly giving me a 

 very perfect tongue of Ornithorhynehus. This animal has never 

 been brought alive to Europe, and therefore it must be un- 

 usually difficult to procure the tissues in a condition favorable 

 for histological investigation. Professor Moseley obtained the 

 specimen from which the tongue was taken in 1874, and the 

 animal was one of those mentioned on page 263 of the ' Notes 

 by a Naturalist on the Challenger.' The organ was hardened 

 in chromic acid, and subsequently in spirit, and I found it in 

 excellent condition during my work upon it last Christmas and 

 again at Easter. There appears to have been some slight 

 alteration of the most delicate tissues, due to the time that un- 

 avoidably elapsed before the organ could be hardened, together 

 with the heat and jolting of a journey by coach. However, 

 this change was not so great as to prevent me from arrivino- 

 at definite conclusions with regard to these tissues, and it is 

 very unlikely that the terminal organs of the gustatory nerves 

 (to which I allude) could have been made out perfectly, except 

 by work upon the fresh specimen. 



General Account of the Tongue.— The size and shape of 



