THE SERPENT’S TONGUE 137 
does not put its tongue, Ruskin might very well 
have said that it is not used as a tactile organ. 
That it is a tactile organ is a very modern supposi- 
tion—a small hypothesis about a small matter, but 
with a curious and rather amusing history. It was 
in the first place given out merely as a conjecture, 
but no sooner given than accepted as an irrefragable 
fact by some of the greatest authorities among us. 
Thus Dr. Gunther, in his article on snakes in the 
Encyclopedia Britannica, ninth edition, says, “ The 
tongue is exserted for the purpose of feeling some 
object, and sometimes under the influence of anger 
or fear.” 
Doubtless those who invented this use for the 
organ were misled by observing snakes in captivity, 
in the glass cases or cages in which it is usual to 
keep them; observing them in such conditions, it 
was easy to fall into the mistake, since the serpent, 
when moving, is frequently seen to thrust his 
tongue against the obstructing glass. It should be 
remembered that glass is glass, a substance that 
does not exist in nature; that a long and some- 
times painful experience is necessary before even 
the most intelligent among the lower animals are 
brought to understand its character; and, finally, 
that the delicate, sensitive tongue comes against 
it for the same reason that the fly buzzes and the 
confined wild bird dashes itself against it in their 
efforts to escape. In a state of nature when the 
snake is approached, whether by its prey or by 
some large animal, the tongue is obtruded; again, 
