THE TASTE OF ACIDS^ 



W. J. CROZIER 



TWO FIGURES 



I. The problem of irritability is essentially a matter con- 

 cerning sense organs; in these structures we find cells "as nearly 

 as possible unifunctional" fLucas, '09, p. 328) with respect to 

 the capacity for being stimulated. Hence the analysis of irri- 

 tability should properly be founded u]i()n the study of receptor 

 physiology in higher animals, rather than upon an examination 

 of the properties of protoplasm in deceptively simple protozoans. 



Two contrasted methods have in the past been used in the study 

 of stimulation. The first of these deals with the responses of 

 unicellular organisms, together with the (usually vague) appli- 

 cation of principles derived from cells of more or less generahzed 

 type. The second method has consisted in the analysis of 

 sensations. Yet, if we consider such questions as those involved 

 in taste stimulation, we find that no definite conclusions have 

 been reached. The very complexity of organization in 'simple' 

 forms is probably in the main responsible for the results obtained 

 in the first field, results which we find stated in such weak generali- 

 zations as occur in Verworn's book ('13, pp. 41, 86, 94). The 

 second procedure, the study of human sense organs, has ine\it- 

 ably come to be clouded by psychological interpretations. 



It appears that the possibility of arriving at some understand- 

 ing of what occurs in stimulation has not yet been sufficiently 

 tested out from the standpoint of sense organ irritability as 

 revealed in animal reactions. This paper is a contribution 

 toward that end; it deals with the problem presented by the 

 taste of acids. I am indebted to Prof. G. H. Parker for his 

 criticism of the manuscript. 



^ Contributions from the Bermudii Biological Station for Research, Xo. 46. 



453 



