THE ANATOMY OF TIJK TONGUES OF THE MAMMALIA. 757 



39. The Oompai-cative Anatomy of tlio Tongues of the Mam- 

 malia.- — VI. Summary and Classification o£ the Tongues 

 of the Primates. By Charles F. Sonntag, • M.D., 



F.Z.S., Anatomist to the Society. 



[Received August 8, 1921 : Read November 8, 1921.] 



Introduction. 



In the five precerling papers of tliis series I described the 

 struQture of the tongues of the Primates and gave a short 

 account of the physiology of the lingual glands. I also drew 

 attention to a number of points bearing on the phylogeny of the 

 tongue. In the present paper I have summarised these observa- 

 tions and pointed out how the lingual characters support systems 

 of classification which have been based on external and skeletal 

 characters. 



Summary. 



Pigmentation. — Most of the pigmented forms are included in 

 the Cebidie. The colour, which is yellow, green, brown or bluish- 

 black, especially the latter, is uniformly distributed all over the 

 dorsum, or the pigmented and colourless parts may form definite 

 patterns ; in Ateles grisescens, for example, there is a wliite cross 

 on a brown background. The vallate and fungiform papilhe may 

 be pigmented (e. g. in Hylohates lar) or colourless, but the 

 lateral organs and central parts of the inferior surfa.ce of the 

 tongue are always white. If several examples of each pigmented 

 species are examined it will be seen that the colour varies 

 considerably, so is of no value for purposes of classification. 

 Most specimens of Cercopithecus 2)citcis,iov example, have reddish- 

 yellow tongues, but some tongues are colourless, and the fungi- 

 form papillae of Cercopithecus tantalus are yellow or coloui-less. 



The bluish-black colour persists longest in preserving fluids. 



Form and /'roportions. — Most tongues are conical, but a few 

 are oval, spatulate or rectangular ; and shape is of no value for 

 comparative purposes. 



In most of the Primates the tongue is long and comparatively 

 narrow, but in Anthropopithecus troglodytes and Gorilla gorilla 

 the tongue of tlie young animal is relatively wider than that of 

 the adult. I did not, however, see such variations in Cerco- 

 pithecus patas or Macacus sinicus, of which I examined very 

 young and adult examples. 



Cunningham showed that the tongue of Simla satyrus resembles 

 that of Homo most closely in the relative propoi-tions of length 

 and width. 



The Apex is round, truncated or pointed, and may or may not 

 ha.ve a notch, but the latter is usually absent from the fresh 

 tongue. It is comparatively smooth, or roughened and tvibercu- 



