ANATOMY OF THE GUSTATORY ORGAN 119 



covered by Hermann. The other supporting cells were 

 described by this author as either central or peripheral 

 and were to be distinguished from each other rather by 

 location than by differences of structure. 



The indefiniteness and uncertainty that surrounded 

 the question of the classes of supporting cells in taste- 

 buds has been dissipated in large part by the declaration 

 of Kolmer (1910) that between the taste-cells on one 

 hand and the so-called supporting cells on the other there 

 are all possible transitions and that it is, therefore, a 

 mistake to attempt to draw distinctions not only between 

 various kinds of supporting cells but between supporting 

 cells and taste-cells. Kolmer believed that all the elon- 

 gated cells in taste-buds are really taste-cells and that 

 their differences are due to the stage of growth at which 

 they are for the moment. This opinion, which is sup- 

 ported by what is known of the innervation of the taste- 

 buds, has gained the acceptance of the more important 

 recent workers in this field, such as Retzius (1912) and 

 Heidenhain (1914). If true, it shows the taste-bud to be 

 a much more unified structure than has heretofore been 

 supposed and it does away at once with the confusion 

 over the classes of cells that were believed to enter into 

 its composition. 



The basal cells apparently do not fall into this general 

 category of more or less differentiated receptor cells, 

 but, according to Heidenhain at least, they are elements 

 that only under certain conditions are regularly present 

 and are concerned with the division of the buds. 



The epidermal cells immediately next the taste-bud 

 are often flattened against this structure and conform 

 more or less to its outline. These cells have been called 



