126 



PERIPHERAL NERVE TERMINATIONS 



taper to blunt points, which collectively form the lateral wall of 

 v. Ebner's goblet-shaped cavity at the apex of the taste bud. 

 'The proximal end is broad, often 

 blunt or serrated, and, like the 

 gustatory cells, it is connected 

 with the basal cells by proto- 

 plasmic processes. 



Sp 



FIG. 121. TASTE BUD FROM THE HUMAN TONGUE. 



A, in longitudinal section ; B, transaction through the deeper third ; (7, transection 

 through the base. Bz, basal cells ; Ez, extra-bulbar cells ; Gz, gustatory cell ; L, leuco- 

 cytes, in A one of these is seen in the pore; P0, perigemraal space; Sg, Subgemmal 

 spaces ; Sp, connective tissue of the tunica propria ; Sz, sustentacular cells ; x, ceils of 

 the adjacent epithelium. (After Graberg.) 



The basal cells (Hermann) are flattened bodies with small 

 ovoid vesicular nuclei and a relatively small amount of cytoplasm 

 which is prolonged into numerous processes that appear to be 

 continuous with the sustentacular and gustatory cells. These 

 cells have been considered as having a similar function to the 

 sustentacular cells. 



The nerve fibrils of the taste buds are derived from a sub- 

 epithelial plexus which distributes terminal fibrils to the gustatory 



