Studies on the Tongue of Reptiles and Birds. 

 By Charles Sedgwick Minot. 



iHE following paper consists principally of a description of the soft parts of the tongue 

 of the moccasin snake, Ancistrodon piscivorus. I have. added some observations made for 

 comparison, upon the tongue of the 'rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus, our common garter 

 snake, Eutaenia sertalis, also Chamaeleon dilepis, and Ameiva surinamensis, and finally 

 the mocking bird, Mlmus polyglottus. The immediate object in view was to investigate 

 the muscles of the ophidian tongue ; the other observations reported are therefore 

 incidental only, which explains their fragmentariness. 



For my material, I am especially obliged to Dr. S. W. Garman, the curator of the 

 herpetological collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, whose kindness I have 

 the greatest pleasure in acknowledging. I am also indebted to Prof. Semper of Wiirz- 

 burg, to Prof Hyatt and Mr. Van Vleck of this Society, and finally to my brother, 

 Wm. Minot, Jr., for valuable specimens. I am glad to have this opportunity to thank 

 them. To the kindness of Dr. H. P. Bowditch, I owe the opportunity of carrying on 

 these researches in the physiological laboratory of the Harvard Medical School, where I 

 enjoyed every convenience for histological work. 



The tongue of reptiles has been comparatively little studied ; most of the papers, which 

 deal with its anatomy, are thirty or more years old, and there is no published investi- 

 gation, so far as I am aware, upon its microscopic anatomy and histology. 



The most accurate paper I have found is that by Duvernoy (v)^, published in 1830, 

 and supplemented by a second memoir (vi) which appeared in 1832. The same author 

 incidentally gives some further observations on the lingual muscles in an article 

 on the poison glands of snakes, (vii)- The principal article besides these, is that by 

 Duges, (ill) contained in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles for 1827. Duges' experi- 

 ments and observations on the function of the ophidian tongue, as an organ of touch 

 rather than taste, are particularly valuable, and may be easily confirmed. A paper by 

 Bendz (i) dated 1843, also deserves special mention, on account of its valuable descrip- 

 tions of the glossopharyngeal and hypoglossal nerves of reptiles. ' 



1 The Roman numerals refer to the bibliographical list at the end of the article. 



