132 THE VITAL FUNCTIONS. 



apparatus for enabling it to dart out with great 

 velocity its long and pointed tongue, and transfix 

 the insects on which it principally feeds; and 

 these motions are performed so quickly that the 

 eye can scarcely follow them. This remarkable 

 mechanism is delineated in Fig. 271, which 

 represents the head of the woodpecker, with the 

 skin removed, and the parts dissected. The 

 tongue itself (t) is a slender sharp-pointed 

 horny cylinder, having its extremity (b) beset 

 with barbs, of which the points are directed 

 backwards: it is supported on a slender Os 

 Hyoides^ or lingual bone, to the posterior end 

 of which the extremities of two very long and 

 narrow cartilaginous processes are articulated.* 

 The one on the right side is shown in the figure, 



* These cartilages correspond in situation, at the part, at 

 least, where they are joined to the os hyoides, to what are called 

 the cornua, or horns of that bone, in other animals. 



