THE SPECIAL SENSES 



249 



342. Taste. The sense of taste is located chiefly in the 

 tongue. Its surface is covered with countless numbers of 

 tiny hillocks, or papillae, which are abundantly supplied with 

 delicate nerve fibers from two great nerve branches leading 

 from the brain. 1 

 These are the 

 nerves of taste. In 

 many of the papil- 

 lae are peculiar 

 structures called 

 taste buds, or taste 

 goblets, which are 

 believed to be con- 

 nected with nerve 

 fibers. Similar 

 taste buds are scat- 

 tered over the sur- 

 faces of the soft 

 palate and the epi- 

 glottis. 



It makes a dif- 

 ference in the taste 

 whether we put a 

 substance to be 

 tasted on the tip 



FIG. 152. The Tongue. 



, epiglottis ; JB, glands at the base of tongue ; C, ton- 

 The various kinds of papillae are plainly shown. 



sil. 



Or the back Of the 



Thus, sugar or any other sweet substance is tasted best 

 at the tip, while a bitter substance, like quinine, tastes 

 more bitter at the back of the tongue. 



1 In certain animals the papillae are very largely developed and give a 

 roughness to the tongue. It is this which enables the lion or the tiger to 

 strip off the flesh from a bone by simply licking it. 



