778 NORMAL HISTOLOGY AND ORGANOGRAPHY. 



cover cells, principally at the periphery of the bud, 

 which support or ensheath (2) the gustatory or. taste 

 cells. The latter are smaller, more delicate and 

 centrally placed, with the distal or free end bearing 

 a small process that projects into the inner taste pore. 

 The cells of the taste bud occupy the whole lateral 

 wall; that is, the base of each cell rests upon the base- 

 ment membrane next to the connective-tissue core 

 and the distal end extends practically to the sulcus 



Taste buds. 



Fig. 129. Two foliate papillae from tongue of rabbit. 



of the papilla. These taste buds, as a matter of pro- 

 tection, develop in the lateral wall rather than in the 

 exposed dorsal surface of each papilla. 



The nerve fibers of the gustatory nerve are not in 

 protoplasmic continuity with the epithelial cells of 

 the taste buds, as is the case with the sensory cells of 

 the olfactory region. Nerve fibers enter the taste 

 buds and terminate in varicosities that interlace 

 and come in contact with the gustatory cells of each 



