PARTS OF ANIMALS, II. xvii. 



Some again have a hard tongue ; others a soft or 

 fleshy one. So we find that even the Crustacea — e.g. 

 the Crayfish and such — have a tongue-Hke object 

 inside the mouth, and so have the Cephalopods — e.g. 

 the Sepias and the Octopuses. Of the Insects, some 

 have this organ inside the mouth (e.g. the Ants), 

 and so have many of the Testacea. Others have it 

 outside, as though it were a sting, in which case it is 

 spongy and hollov/, and so they can use it both for 

 tasting and for drawing up their food. Clear ex- 

 amples of this are flies and bees and all such creatures, 

 and also some of the Testacea. In the Purpurae," for 

 instance, this " tongue " has such strength that they 

 can actually bore through the shells of shellfish with 

 it, including those of the spiral snails which are used 

 as baits for them. Also, there are among the gad- 

 flies and cattle-flies creatures that can pierce through 

 the skin of the human body, and some can actually 

 puncture animal hides as well. Tongues of this sort, 

 we may say, are on a par with the elephant's nose ; 

 in their tongue these creatures have a useful sting 

 just as the elephant has a handy implement in his 

 trunk. 



In all other animals the tongue conforms to the 

 description we have given. 



indigo) is obtained from Murex brandaris. For the boring 

 powers of these creatures' tongues see the reference for 

 Purpura lapillvs given by Ogle (Forbes and Hanley, Brit, 

 Mollusca, iii. 385). 



207 



