280 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



pipe. On the upper surface of what is termed 

 the dorsum of the tongue, there are rough papillae 

 which in some measure correspond with what we 

 see in animals : they are subservient to the taste. 

 Some of them have a mushroom-like top, and a 

 stalk projecting from the bottom of a little hollow, 

 and there the sapid particles of the food lodge, 

 and prolong the enjoyment of the palate. But in 

 the organization of the tongue there is one minute 

 point of structure more curious than all the rest. 

 When the papillae are examined with a magnify- 

 ing glass, there are seen certain small bodies, con- 

 sisting of a gray sheath, within which there is a 

 little red point ; and this point is capable of erec- 

 tion, thus projecting and becoming the organ of 

 taste. It is so erected when the morsel is in the 

 mouth, or when we are in the immediate antici- 

 pation of food. There are other more minute pro- 

 cesses studding the surface of the tongue, and 

 these contain the extremities of nerves which are 

 sensible to touch. It must surely, therefore, be 

 considered an admirable thing to find so many 

 faculties seated here, each with its appropriate 

 organization, and each most curiously connected 

 with other structures — that we should have the 

 power of mastication, of deglutition, of modulation 

 of the voice, the senses of taste and of touch, con- 

 centrated in one apparently simple organ. 



Not to speak of other relations, can there be 

 any better proof of design, than the effects of the 

 excited sensibility of the tongue ? No sooner have 



