GUSTATORY ORGANS OF MAN AND MAMMALS. 7 



620 bulbs, and the two gustatory organs together (estimating them to 

 have twelve lamellee apiece) would thus have 14,880 gustatory bulbs. 

 According to the statements of Schwalbe, two similar organs are 

 present in the Pig. They contain, however, only isolated gustatory 

 bulbs. 



As has been already stated, the gustatory bulbs (see fig. 269) 

 occupy flask-like cavities of the epithelium, which they com- 

 pletely fill. The walls of these cavities, with the exception of 

 the floor, which rests on the connective tissue of the mucous 

 membrane, are formed by the epithelial cells themselves. At 

 the level of the belly of the flask the epithelium is composed of 

 cells of many different shapes, which present the characteristics 

 of the elements of the rete Malpighii in their finely granular 

 protoplasm, relatively large nucleus, and indistinct cell wall. The 



Fig. 273. 



Fig. 273. A gustatory bulb exposed in consequence of the detach- 

 ment of the upper half of the epithelial framework, seen from above. 

 From the lateral gustatory organ of the Rabbit. Magnified 450 dia- 

 meters. 



innermost of these cells, which are cemented to the wall of 

 the flask-like space, have a concavo-convex shape, like fragment** 

 of a watch-glass. When seen in transverse section, they are 

 falciform (fig. 272). Around the neck of the flask and its 

 opening, the gustatory pore, the epithelium presents the 

 characters of the horny epithelial layer of the oral mucous 

 membrane, the cells having a flattened form, a thick cell mem- 

 brane, homogeneous contents, and flat nucleus. In those regions 

 that are occupied by the gustatory bulbs, the horny lamina is, 

 as a rule, only O'Ol 02 of a millimeter in thickness, and its 



TTSIVEESITY 



