I 

 THE SKIN 1151 



epithelial covering of the same areas. They are very plentiful over the fimbriae 

 linguae, and are also present on the under aspect of the soft palate, uvula, and 



O ^^^^^m^^^. A i !! . J,, . i ....... .-. jfc ... I i .... I ^^ 



on the lingual surface of the epiglottis. 



Each taste bud is flask-like in shape, its broad base resting on the corium, and 

 the neck opening by an orifice, the gustatory pore, between the cells of the epithe- 

 lium. The bud is formed by two kinds of cells, supporting cells and gustatory 

 cells. The supporting cells are mostly arranged like the staves of a cask, and form 

 an outer envelope for the bud. Some, however, are found in the interior of the 

 bud between the gustatory cells. The gustatory cells occupy the central portion 

 of the bud; they are spindle-shaped, and each possesses a large spherical nucleus 

 near the middle of the cell. The peripheral end of the cell terminates at the 

 gustatory pore in a fine, hair-like filament, the gustatory hair. The central pro- 

 cess pass~es~"toward the deep extremity of the bud, and there ends in a single or 

 bifurcated varicose filament, which was formerly supposed to be continuous with 

 the terminal fibril of a nerve; the investigations of Lenhossek and others would 

 seem to prove, however, that this is not so, but that the nerve fibrils after losing 

 their myelin sheaths enter the taste bud, and terminate in fine extremities between 



Gustatory hairs Taste pore 



Epithelium 



Tunica propria 



FIG. 860. Taste buds from the papilla foliata of a rabbit. X 850. (Szymonowicz.) 



the gustatory cells. Other nerve fibrils may be seen ramifying between the sup- 

 porting cells and terminating in fine extremities; these, however, are believed to 

 be nerves of ordinary sensation, and not gustatory. "The latest researches have 

 shown that dendrites of sensor neurones (sensor nerves) enter the taste buds and 

 end free in telodendria. The latter surround the neuroepithelial, and, to some 

 extent, the sustentacular cells, their relations depending on contact." 1 



Nerves of Taste. The chorda tympani nerve is generally regarded as the nerve of taste 

 for the anterior two-thirds of the tongue: the nerve for the posterior third is the glosso- 

 pharyngeal. 



THE SON (INTEGUMENTUM COMMUNE). 



The skin covers the body surface and is continuous with the mucous membrane 

 at the origin and termination of the alimentary canal and at the openings of other 

 canals. The skin is a protective coat, a regulator of body temperature, contains 

 multitudes of the terminations of sensor nerves, and is the seat of the organ of 



1 Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, 1891. 



