III 
THE SERVICE OF TAILS 
A TAIL,! properly speaking, is a prolongation of 
the backbone behind (or beyond) the pelvic arch, 
which supports the hinder limbs. 
Sometimes this prolongation is the ieee half 
of the entire length of the spinal column, as in 
some reptiles and a few mammals,—the acme 
being reached by one of the African pangolins 
(Manis tricuspis), whose tail is nearly twice as 
long as its body, and contains forty-nine caudal 
vertebrz, the largest number known among mam- 
mals; sometimes it is extremely short, or altogether 
abortive, as among frogs and in our own case, for 
1 To the light-minded a better title would be 4 Tale of Tails, or 
something of that miserable sort— perhaps 4 Caudal Lecture — 
instead of the words at the head of the page. That would be a 
pun of the most brutal kind, as obvious and headlong as one of the 
bulls of Bashan. A pun should not come gradually bulging out 
towards one’s intelligence —looming up slowly before the mind 
like a light-house in a fog. It should appear unexpectedly at your 
elbow, startling, yet not affrighting you, after the manner of the 
Cheshire Cat. Not on the lookout, you do not at once perceive 
the allusion, but an instant later the essence of wit encased in the 
quibble declares itself, as certain candies, disappointing and flavor- 
less at first, presently disclose a liquid centre of sweets to the 
surprised palate. 
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