TOUCH, TEMPERATURE, MUSCULAR SENSE. 491 



form the remotest conception of it. It seems probable 

 though, that there are separate nerves for the separate 

 tastes, inasmuch as experiments show that certain papillae 

 give certain tastes only, no matter how stimulated, while 

 other papillae give other tastes. Possibly the tips of the 

 taste cells are chemically affected by sapid substances, cer- 

 tain cells readily by acids, sour substances, others by sub- 

 stances of the family of the sugars, producing the sweets, 

 and so on. These impressions are then conveyed to the 

 brain, and in the brain in a perfectly subjective way what 

 we call the " taste" arises. 



That there is a large subjective element in taste is prob- 

 able from such experiments as these: Pure distilled water 

 when tasted immediately after tasting salty water tastes 

 distinctly sweet. Still more remarkable is the fact that a 

 dilute solution of sugar becomes distinctly sweeter to the 

 taste when a little bit of salt has been added to it. The 

 intensity of the sensation depends not only on the strength 

 of the solution to be tasted, but also on the amount of taste 

 area in the mouth in contact with that solution. For this 

 reason a person tasting a thing tries to spread it out as much 

 as possible over his sensory area. Rubbing the substance, 

 pressing it against tongue or palate sharpens the taste, no 

 doubt because it facilitates the introduction of the sapid 

 substance into the depressions around the circumvallate 

 papillae in which the taste buds lie. 



Taste sensations are frequently confused with odors. 

 Possibly in the majority of instances when a person imagines 

 he is tasting something, the sensation is really due to his 

 olfactory sense. With the destruction of the sensibility of 

 the nose goes the possibility to taste such apparently sapid 

 substances as coffee, tea, or the ordinary flavors of fruits. In 

 fact, the number of tastes are limited and are usually classed 

 in four kinds, namely, bitter, sour, sweet and salty. In 

 each class there are, of course, large numbers of slightly 

 varying qualities. 



