THE CHAMELEONS TONGUE. '27 o 



and thus forming an excellent apparatus wherewith to catch 

 their prey. 



But perhaps in no animal is this organ more remarkable 

 than in the chameleon, where by its extraordinary power of ex- 

 tension, and by the rapidity of its movements, it is made to 

 compensate for the extreme sluggishness which characterises 

 the muscular system of that singular creature. The chameleon, 

 fixed firmly by means of its bifid feet and prehensile tail upon 

 the bough of a tree, has no occasion to move in quest of insect 

 prey, but waits patiently until its victims approach sufficiently 

 near to be within reach of its tongue, which, though "generally 



Tongue of Chameleon. 



concealed within the cavity of the mouth, is capable of being 

 elongated until it exceeds in length the whole body of the 

 animal. No sooner does a fly approach within five or six inches 

 of the chameleon, than the tongue is slowly protruded for the 

 length of about an inch, so as to expose its thick fleshy 

 extremity, the end of which is divided into two prominent lips, 

 and copiously lubricated with a thick viscid secretion. The 

 whole tongue is then launched out, with a rapidity that is per- 

 fectly amazing, to the length of six or seven inches, and a fly 

 glued to its extremity is brought into the creature's mouth so 

 quickly, that the eye can scarcely follow the movement. 



Besides the possession of this unique tongue, the chameleon is 

 very much assisted in its chase after insects by its singular faculty 

 of voluntarily changing colour, which enables it to conceal itself 

 by adopting that of the branches around, and by the peculiar 

 structure of its enormously projecting eyes. Although the 

 movements of its head are very limited on account of the 



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