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, the tongue is cloven at its extremity. The 

 tongue of the chameleon, among lizards, is enor- 

 mously long, of a cylindrical form, and suscepti- 

 ble of a kind of vermiform motion ; and it is by 

 this organ principally that the animal supplies 

 itself with aliment, the insects on which it feeds 

 becoming gradually collected on the long slimy 

 tongue, as it hangs out of the mouth, and fur- 

 nishing a full repast on the mere retraction of 

 this organ. From this circumstance, in conjunc- 

 tion, probably, with the fact, that the chameleon 

 can, by inflating its lungs, distend its body to an 

 extraordinary degree, has originated the fable of 

 its living on air. The jaws of reptiles, in gene- 

 ral, are similar to those of most fishes; and in 

 the venomous serpents, the upper jaw, like that 

 of the carp, is moveable as well as the lower, 

 apparently for the purpose of enabling the fangs 

 to act with greater certainty. The teeth of rep- 

 tiles also agree, for the most part, with those of 

 fishes, being commonly pointed and hooked, and 

 adapted, less for chewing, than for lacerating and 

 retaining their food. All serpents have two rows 

 of these in their palate ; and, besides these, the 

 harmless serpents have two rows in each jaw, 

 while the venomous have only one row in the 

 upper jaw, in addition to the two long fangs al- 

 ready spoken of; this circumstance furnishes 

 one important means of distinguishing them 

 Tortoises are destitute of proper teeth, their 

 place being supplied by a rough horny plate, 

 with which the jaws are covered, and which is 



