ORGANS OF PERCEPTION:. 



duce their effect on the organs of taste. Some suppose 

 that they act chemically, others mechanically. 



The nomenclature of savours, though very imperfect, is 

 more precise than that of smells, arising from the circum- 

 stance that the impressions of sapid bodies are more perma- 

 nent than of odours. 



We distinguish savours into agreeable and disagreeable, 

 sour, sweat, bitter, hot, and cold ; and in our descriptions 

 of them, we frequently refer to well known bodies, as salt, 

 sugar, vinegar, as standards of comparison. Sapid bodies 

 appear to act with greater energy on some parts of the or- 

 gan of taste than on others. Thus, some affect the throat, 

 others the palate or tongue. 



As different bodies act on the organs of taste in produ- 

 cing a variety of different feelings, this sense is extensively 

 used in the discrimination of bodies, more particularly those 

 which serve as nourishment. Indeed, this sense appears 

 almost exclusively subservient to the digestive system, so 

 that the pleasure we derive from the savour of bodies in the 

 mouth, is intimately connected with their salutary effects in 

 the stomach. 



The information communicated by this sense is limited 

 in its nature, in the inferior animals, to food. Man, how- 

 ever, employs it to ascertain the composition and relation of 

 bodies ; and, by experience, communicates to this sense a 

 wonderful degree of sensibility, as we see in chemists, wine- 

 dealers, and even epicures. 



It is probable that all animals possess the sense of taste, 

 to enable them to make choice of the proper kind of food. 



Before concluding our remarks on the organs of percep- 

 tion, some general observations may be made on their na- 

 ture and mutual dependence, 



