238 MINUTE MARVELS OF NATURE 



and curved, with their sharp points pointing in- 

 wards towards the gullet. The hopelessness of 

 the return of a worm when once engulfed in this 

 tube of about 2500 curved spines, furnished with 



Fig. 159. Palate, or tongue, of a slug that 

 eats worms 



muscles to concentrate them upon the victim, can 

 readily be imagined. 



As a contrast to the tongues of the slug and 

 snail, let us look at this organ in some insects, 

 taking that of the common blow-fly, or blue- 

 bottle as it is sometimes called, for my first 

 example. Fig. 160 represents that wonderful 

 organ which can often be seen by the unaided 

 eye as a tiny bobbing object underneath ihe head 



