198 ANSWERS TO PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 



2. When ive are cold, why do ive spread the palms of 

 our hands before the fire ? 



(See Question 1.) 



3. What is meant by a 6i furred tongue " ? 



In health, the tongue has hardly a discernible lining, but in 

 disease, the epithelium, or scarfskin, accumulates, and gives a 

 white, coated appearance. This covering is likely to be of a 

 yellowish shade when the liver is disturbed, and brown or dark 

 in blood-diseases. One's occupation often colors it. Thus it is 

 said the tongue of a tea-taster has a curious orange-tint. 



4. IVJiy has sand or sulphur no taste ? 



They are insoluble in the saliva. 



5. What was the origin of the word palatable ? 



The mistaken notion that the palate, or roof of the mouth, 

 is the seat of the taste. 



6. Why does a cold in the head injure the flavor of our 

 coffee ? 



Because the sense of taste is so dependent on that of smell. 



7. Name some so-called flavors which are really sensa- 

 tions of touch. 



. (See Physiology, p. 348.) 



Taste is not a simple sense. Certain other sensations, as 

 those of touch, temperature, smell, and pain, are blended 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 uj^Dn 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, hav- 

 ing 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. HUTCHISON'S Physiology, pp. 190, 191. 



8. What is the object of the hairs in the nostrils ? 



