338 J. M. D. OLMSTED 
ance of the taste buds is associated with injury to the nerves 
connected with these organs. 
It is possible, therefore, to follow the course of taste fibers by 
cutting the nerve tract in which they are supposed to lie and 
examining the taste buds some eight or more days later. It is 
hoped that this method, which was suggested to me by Dr. G. H. 
Parker, will be successful in settling the question of the pathway of 
taste fibers from the chorda tympani to the brain; this has not 
been realized as yet. 
o, ; ° 
Ww 
Fig. 1. Diagram showing points at which the nerves were severed. Alv., 
inferior alveolar nerve; C. 7., chorda tympani; Gl-ph., glossopharyngeal nerve; 
Ling., lingual nerve; Mand., mandibular nerve; 7. B., tympanic bulla of the tem- 
poral bone; broken line at 1 indicates the position of the cut on the chorda tympani 
in dogs 12 and 13; broken line 2 indicates the position of the cut on the mandibular 
nerve in dog 14. 
After several unsuccessful attempts I was able to sever the 
left chorda tympani nerve in two dogs just craniad to its junction 
with the lingual (fig. 1). There was no injury to the lingual itself 
and little damage to the surrounding tissue aside from the cutting 
of the tendinous attachment of the pterygoid muscles. Thirteen 
days elapsed after the operation on one dog before it was killed 
and the tongue removed for histological examination, and four- 
teen days in the second. Fungiform papillae were taken at ran- 
dom from different levels of the anterior three-fourths of the 
