56 



lighted candle be brought near the stalk of the 

 plant, so that the flame touch any of the resin, 

 *S' the whole takes fire in an instant, and goes off 

 with a remarkable explosion. The plant will 

 not be destroyed by this experiment, but will 

 recover its resinous matter again in a few days, 

 and the explosion may be repeated with success. 



THE WOODPECKER'S TONGUE. 



The tongue of the Woodpecker is one of 

 those singularities which nature presents us- with 

 when a singular purpose is to be answered. It 

 is a particular instrument for a particular use : 

 and what, except design, ever produces such? 

 V* The woodpecker lives chiefly upon insects 

 lodged in the bodies of decayed trees. For the 

 purpose of boring into the wood, it is furnished 

 with a bill, straight, hard, angular, and sharp. 

 When, by means of this piercer, it has reached 

 the cells of the insects, then comes the office of 

 its tongue; which tongue is, first, of such a 

 length, that the bird can dart it out three or four 

 inches from the bill, in this respect differing 

 greatly from every other species of birds; in the 

 second place, it is tipped with a stiff, sharp, 



