376 J. M. D. OLMSTED 
large deeply staining oval nuclei. The former were termed 
‘Stutz’ or ‘Deck-zellen,’ the latter, the true ‘Sinneszellen.’ AI- 
though it has been shown by Kolmer (10), Retzius (12), and 
Heidenhain (14) that there is only one kind of cell present in 
the mammalian taste bud, the ‘cover’ and ‘sense’ cells being 
different stages of the same cell, the dual nature of the cells of 
taste buds is still maintained in the literature. There is most 
evidently only one kind of cell in the taste bud of Amiurus, i.e., 
the sense cell. 
The individual sense cell is very long and possesses a distinct 
bulge, about one-fourth of the length of the cell from the proxi- 
mal end, to accommodate the heavily staining oval nucleus. 
The distal end of the cell terminates in a single short process, 
which nearly always projects slightly beyond the epidermis. 
When stained otherwise than with Heidenhain’s iron-haema- 
toxylin, these processes appear as rounded ends of the sense cells 
colorless or slightly yellow, as if composed of cuticula or horny 
material; but with Heidenhain’s iron-haematoxylin they appear 
much more like cytoplasm, especially when viewed under an 
oil-immersion lens. At the base of each peg-like prolongation 
is a heavily staining basal body. 
The proximal end of the sense cell may terminate either in a 
single fiber or it may be branched, the former condition being 
more often seen. ‘The presence of such fibers led Lovén and 
Schwalbe to infer that the sense cells of the taste buds had direct 
connection with the nerve fiber, a condition which has been 
proved to exist in olfactory cells. Ranvier (’88) even stated 
that he was able to demonstrate by the gold method that the 
‘sensory cells’ (which were more deeply colored than the ‘cover 
cells’) were continuous with the nerve fibers. This was dis- 
proved by Retzius (’92) and others. 
The innervation of the taste buds is well brought out in longi- 
tudinal and transverse sections of silver preparations. A branch 
of the main nerve of the barbel passes into the dermal papilla 
beneath the bud. Bielschowsky preparations proved to be 
superior to those made by Golgi, Cajal, or Ranson methods in 
showing the distribution of the nerve fibers in the bud. Fibers 
