126 



DR. C. F. SONNTAG ON THE ANATOMY 



backwards and inwards. In many of the Ruminantia, however, 

 there is an area at the back of the oral part of the dorsum on 

 which the papillae, which are large, point in all directions. 



The papillae on the edges of the tongue give these a serrated 

 appearance, the points being directed backwards, and the dis- 

 position is in vertical chains. 



On the inferior surface of the tongue the papilljB are small, but 

 the Banded Mongoose has large discrete ones arranged in trans- 

 verse rows with the points directed backwards and outwards. 



The functions of the papillae are numerous, but taste is not 

 one of them. They are tactile, retentive, or mechanical, and the 

 nature of the mechanical action diffei's in difierent animals. 

 In the Felidae it is rasping, and in the Bats it may be suctorial 

 in virtue of the action of muscle-fibres near the apex. They are 

 assisted in their work by the shape of the mouth, the nature and 

 strength of the lingual muscles, and the co-existence of ridges 

 and tubercles on the palate. Hard insects can, for example, be 

 crushed between the cornified papillae and the yialatal tubercles. 



The conical papillae may overlap the fungiform and vallate 

 papillae, or there may be a non-papillary zone between them (text- 

 fig. 12, nos. 7, 8, 9). 



TJte Lateral Organs. 



The lateral organs, or foliate pajnllce, consist of a number of 

 fissures and elevations at the posterior extremity of the free part 

 of each lateral border of the tongue. In most cases they extend 

 for a variable distance on to the pharyngeal part of the dorsum 

 each side. Both organs may be identical, or one may be more 

 pronounced and exhibit a greater degree of development. 



The fissures may be long or short, and they may ])e curved 

 with the convexity forwards, sinuous, or straight. They may 

 be described as primary or complete, when they separate two 

 adjacent ridges, or secondary or incomplete, when they lie in the 

 middle of a ridge and partially divide it into two. Many tongues 

 have both foruis. They vary greatly in number, the greatest 

 which I detected being fifteen in the Spotted Cavy. Both organs 

 may have the same number of fissures, or there may be more in 

 one of the two in any animal. 



The ridges may not protrude above the surface of the dorsum, 

 as in the Spotted Cavy, or they may appear as a series of oval 

 bodies arranged in a straight line or a curve. The linear 

 arrangement is seen in the Macaque and Cercopitheque Monkeys, 

 and the curve in the Brown Lemur and some other animals. 

 Again, the bodies may be grouped in pairs, as in the White- 

 collared Mangabey and the Bald-headed Ouakari. These modifi- 

 cations are shown in text-fig. 16. 



Sometimes the lateral organs appear as distinct bodies which 

 are oval, lozenge-shaped, vermiform, or wedge-shaped (text- 

 fig. 16). Their margins may be serrated or plain, and their 



