THE SPECIAL SENSES 279 



34. Relations of Taste with other Senses. Taste is not a 

 simple sense. Certain other sensations, as those of touch, tem- 

 perature, smell, and pain, are blended and confused with it; 

 and certain so-called tastes are really sensations of another 

 kind. Thus an astringent taste, like that of alum, is more 

 properly an astringent feeling, and results from an impression 

 made upon the nerves of touch that ramify in the tongue. In 

 like manner, the qualities known as smooth, oily, watery, and 

 mealy tastes, are dependent upon these same nerves of touch. 

 A burning or pungent taste is a sensation of pain, having its 

 seat in the tongue and throat. A cooling taste, like that of 

 mint, pertains to that modification of touch called the sense of 

 temperature. 



35. Taste is largely dependent upon the sense of smell. A 

 considerable number of substances, like vanilla, coffee, and gar- 

 lic, which appear to possess a strong and distinct flavor, have 

 in reality a powerful odor, but only a feeble taste. When the 

 sense of smell is interfered with by holding the nose", it becomes 

 difficult to distinguish between substances of this class. The 



great quantities of train-oil, which for them is a greatly-esteemed 

 article of food, and is most admirably adapted to the exigencies of a 

 Polar climate ; the Abyssinians eat raw flesh, and find its flavor 

 excellent, while the inhabitant of the West partakes of it with the 

 greatest repugnance and only as a medicine. Oysters, which are so 

 generally esteemed in our country, are to some persons disagreeable 

 and nauseous; and truffles, the delight of the gourmand, are rejected 

 by the uninitiated on account of their flavor and their perfume. It is 

 the same with almost all alimentary substances ; they are eagerly 

 sought after by some, and despised or abhorred by others. Let us 

 remember the proverb ' de gustibus non disputandumS and not dispute 

 in regard to tastes ; each is suited to its own country, and goodly 

 numbers acclimatize themselves, to the great advantage of peoples 

 among whom at first they seem exceedingly strange. Man should 

 control his taste, and habituate it to all wholesome aliment ; this 

 neither excludes choice, nor blunts the delicacy of the sense ; and 

 while we resist its seductions, we should give timely heed to its 

 instincts and its counsels, for they are often invaluable." The Won- 

 ders of the Human Body. 



34. What is stated of the relations of taste to the other senses ? 

 85. Its dependence on smell ? on sight ? 



