THE EQUIVALENTS OF THE HAND. 119 



With the tangible properties of surrounding 

 bodies, we may presume that this power con- 

 tributes much to the sagacity possessed by 

 these animals. It has been said of serpents 

 that their whole body is a hand, conferring 

 some of the advantages of that instrument." 

 "We allow, indeed, feeling to the body of the ser- 

 pent, and admit that the reptile is fully conscious, 

 from this sense, of the form or resistance of the 

 object which it ent\vines ; so is the wrestler 

 who entAvines his limbs in the struggle around 

 those of his antagonist; but the seuae of 

 touch is far higher than this diflfused feeling, 

 and we always suppose it to be concentrated 

 in some organ, as the hand in man, the tip of 

 the proboscis in the elephant. We are rather 

 inclined to believe that in snakes, the slender 

 bifurcated extensile tongue is the organ of 

 touch ; we have seen the common snake use it 

 as such, with a slight vibrating motion ; and 

 we may observe that the boa, having crushed 

 its victim, frequently touches the carcase with 

 its forked tongue, its jaws dripping with 

 saliva, whence has arisen the idea that this 

 serpent lubricates his prey before proceeding to 

 swallow it. 



In the chameleon, the frog, and toad, which 



