168 PHILOSOPHY OF ZOOLOGY. 
must be confined to the feet and head. We accordingly 
find, that the villous surface of the skin is very conspicu- 
ous in the soles of the feet, particularly of rapacious birds, 
which use their toes for seizing their prey. In those birds 
with long bills, as snipes and woodcocks, which search for 
food among mud, the extremities of the mandibles are usu- 
ally of a softer texture than the base, and evidently appear 
to possess an exquisite degree of sensibility. 
But, even in those animals whose skin is considered as 
destitute of a villous surface, the presence of the sense of 
touch may be distinctly ascertained. In Fishes, the surface 
is covered with insensible scales; yet the contact of an ob- 
ject with the body is readily felt. About the mouth and 
head, however, of many species, there are places destitute of 
scales, usually more or less raised above the surface, which 
are usually considered as subservient to the purposes of 
touch, although the evidence of their utility in this respect 
is far from satisfactory. These are soft in their texture, 
phable, and capable of various motions. They obtain diffe- 
rent names, according to their situation. When placed upon 
the lips, they are termed cir7hi, on the head tentacula, and 
on other parts of the body fingers. In the Mollusca, the 
sense of touch more particularly resides in the tentacula. We 
may observe the application of these organs to the examina- . 
tion of the surface of bodies in the common slug. Among 
Insects, the antennee, or feelers, as they are termed, are or- 
gans of touch, possessing, in some species, very great sen- 
sibility. Even among the Zoophytes, the sense of touch is 
present. By means of the cirrhi which surround their 
mouth, they are warned of the presence of their prey. 
In the examination of the appearance of the sense of touch 
in the imperfect animals, it is difficult to ascertain, whether 
the information obtained by these cirrhi is confined to sen- 

