38 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 



wonderfully complete : but the infinite wisdom 

 of the framer and ruler of the universe has wisely 

 ordered it otherwise ; and in this respect they are 

 far behind that of many other animals much less 

 perfect in their organization; for we find that Parrots, 

 which are far removed in form and physical properties 

 from man, are still more nearly allied to him in the 

 faculty of acquiring articulate sounds, their imitation 

 of his voice being so exact, as not to be easily 

 detected. So that the approximation is of a higher 

 kind in Parrots than in Monkeys — so far at least 

 as speech is connected with mental operations — 

 while gesture is simply a physical action. 



The whole members of the extensive family of 

 Parrots have a thick, hard, solid bill, round in all its 

 parts, the base being surrounded by a membrane, in 

 which the nostrils are pierced. They have a soft, 

 thick, fleshy, round tongue, capable of great mobility, 

 which, with their complicated larynx, provided with 

 three muscles, enables them to imitate articulate 

 sounds, and more particularly that of the human voice. 

 In the division of Parrots proper, the skin which 

 covers the tongue is frequently fine, dry, and pro- 

 vided with papillae, which De Blainville says, are 

 arranged longitudinally, and placed on a kind of an- 

 terior disc, supported by a crescent-shaped corneous 

 annulation. These papillae are invested by a 

 pigmentous deposit, covered by a very slender 

 epidermis. In the division which includes the 

 Cockatoos, or, as Levaillant calls them, Aras d trompe, 

 the tongue is cylindrical, rather lengthened, but not 



