chap. xii. i ORGANS OF TASTE. 437 



on the palate, on the rudimentary tongue, on the 

 mucous membrane which covers the inner side of the 

 branchial arches, and the barbels ; around the mouth, 

 on the skin of the head, and the rest of the body they 

 are less numerously developed. 



In the Amphibia the cells of this sense are 

 grouped into discs, the so-called gustatory discs ; those 

 on the tongue are placed on elongated papillae, but 

 such as have been observed on the mucous membrane 

 of the palate are not known to project above the 

 surface, except in the region of the vomerine bones, 

 where, as on the tongue, the papillae that bear them 

 may be distinguished as fuiigiform. The Amphibia 

 exhibit a higher form of differentiation than the 

 fishes, inasmuch as the gustatory cells appear to be 

 confined to the region of the mouth. For the majority 

 of the Sauropsida it is impossible to affirm definitely 

 the possession of a sense of taste, and it is very 

 probable that in many, as in some (e.g. Birds) almost 

 certainly, the sensations experienced are those of a 

 foreign body only ; are, in fact, mechanical, and not 

 chemical. In Lizards and in Crocodiles there are, 

 however, projections of the mucous membrane (papillae) 

 which are provided with goblet-shaped cells, and these 

 may, by analogy, be reasonably supposed to have a 

 gustatory function. 



Just as the ant-eater, and other Mammals, prove 

 to us that the tongue may be a seizing organ, and is 

 not merely the bearer of the gustatory bulbs, so, in 

 man at any rate, the gustatory function is not 

 confined to the body of the tongue, for in ourselves 

 the soft and part of the hard palate are also capable of 

 taste. The greater number of gustatory sensations 

 are, nevertheless, experienced through the tongue, 

 and we may justly say that, in this particular, the 

 fish stands at one, and the mammal at the other end of 

 the series. The majority of the gustatory cells are 



