152 PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE. 



no part of the tongue existed, the individual could appreciate the bit- 

 terness of sal ammoniac; and the sweetness of sugar; and Blumenbach 1 

 refers to that of a young man, who was born without a tongue ; and 

 yet, when blindfolded, could distinguish between solutions of salt, 

 sugar, and aloes, put upon the palate. 2 



Certain bodies leave their taste in the mouth for a length of time 

 after they have been swallowed. This arriere-gout N achgeschmack 

 of the Germans is sometimes felt in the whole mouth ; at others, in a 

 part only; and is probably owing to the papillae having imbibed the 

 savour, for the substances producing the effect belong principally to 

 the class o*f aromatics. This imbibition frequently prevents the savour 

 of another substance from being duly appreciated ; and, in the admi- 

 nistration of nauseous drugs, we avail ourselves of the knowledge of the 

 fact, either by previously giving an aromatic so as to forestall the 

 nauseous impression, or, by combining powerful aromatics with it, which 

 strongly impress the nerves, and produce a similar result. 



There is a common experiment, which has been the foundation of 

 numerous wagers, and elucidates this subject; or at least demonstrates, 

 that the effect produced upon the nerve by the special irritant continues, 

 as in the case of the other senses, for some time after it has made its 

 impression, so that the nerve becomes, for a time, comparatively insen- 

 sible to the action of other sapid bodies. It consists in giving to one 

 blindfold brandy, rum, and gin, or other spirituous liquors in rapid 

 succession, and seeing whether he can discriminate one from another. 

 A few contacts are sufficient to impregnate the nerve so completely that 

 distinction becomes confounded. 



It has been remarked, that numerous nerves are distributed to the 

 organ of taste : the ninth pair, lingual, and other branches of the fifth, and 

 glosso-pharyngeal. (See Fig. 56.) An interesting question arises which 

 of these is the nerve of taste; or are more than one, or the whole, con- 

 cerned? Of old, the lingual nerve of the fifth pair was universally consi- 

 dered to accomplish the function ; the other nerves being looked upon as 

 simple motors. Boerhaave and others assigned the office to the ninth, 

 and considered the others to be motors. The filaments of the fifth 

 have been described as traceable even in the papillae; but others have 

 denied this. Opinions have generally settled down upon the lingual 

 branch of the fifth pair. Such is the view of Sir Charles Bell, who 

 considers the ninth pair, which arises from the anterior column of the 

 spinal marrow,' the nerve of motion for the tongue; the lingual branch 

 of the fifth, a nerve having a posterior root, the nerve of taste ; and 

 the glosso-pharyngeal, the nerve by which the tongue is associated 

 with the pharynx in the function of deglutition. Bellingeri 3 thinks 

 the last nerve gives the organic and involuntary character to the 

 tongue. In this it is aided by branches of the fifth pair and pneumo- 

 gastric. The hypoglossal he regards as the nerve of the voluntary 

 motions of the organ for articulate speech, and modulated sound in 

 singing, an inference which has seemed to be confirmed by the fact, 



1 Comparative Anatomy, by Lawrence, p. 323, Lond., 1807, 



2 BrillatSavarin, Physiologic du Gout, p. 38. Paris, 1843. 



3 Dissert. Inaugural. Turini, 1823, noticed in Edinb. Med. and Surg. Journal for July, 

 1834, p. 129. 



