120 THE VITAL FUNCTIONS. 



slender muscle is attached to the inner margin of 

 each of these cartilages; and their actions conspire 

 to raise the lower and most bent parts of the car- 

 tilages, so that their curvature is diminished, and 

 the tongue protruded to a considerable distance, 

 for the purpose of catching insects. As soon as 

 this has been accomplished, these muscles being 

 suddenly relaxed, another set of fibres, passing in 

 front of the anterior portion of the cartilages nearly 

 parallel to them, are thrown into action, and as 

 suddenly retract the tongue into the mouth, with 

 the insect adhering to its barbed extremity. This 

 muscular effort is, however, very materially assisted 

 by the long and tortuous course of these arched 

 cartilages, which are nearly as elastic as steel 

 springs, and effect a considerable saving of muscu- 

 lar power.* This was the more necessary, because, 

 vi'hile the bird is on the tree, it repeats these mo- 

 tions almost incessantly, boring holes in the bark, 

 and picking up the minutest insects, with the utmost 

 celerity and precision. On meeting with an anthill, 

 the woodpecker easily lays it open by the combined 

 efforts of its feet and bill, and soon makes a plen- 

 tiful meal of the ants and their eggs. 



Among the Mammalia which have no teeth, the 

 Mynnecopliaga, or Ant-eater, practises a remark- 

 able manoeuvre for catching its prey. The tongue 

 of this animal is very long and slender, and has 

 a great resemblance to an earth-\\'orm : that of the 

 two-toed ant-eater is very nearly one-third of the 

 length of the whole body ; and at its base is scarcely 



* An account of this mechanism is given by Mr. Waller, in the 

 Phil. Trans, for 1716, p. .509. 



