266 TASTE SENSATIONS. [BOOK in. 



On the other hand we must bear in mind how varied and 

 complex are the junctions in the skull between the fifth nerve, the 

 seventh nerve, and the glossopharyngeal nerve, by way of the 

 Vidian nerve, the petrosal nerves, the tympanic plexus, Jacobson's 

 nerve, and the otic and sphenopalatine ganglia. And it seems 

 possible to suppose that fibres leaving the brain by the fifth nerve 

 might find their way not directly to the lingual branch but by a 

 roundabout way through the chorda tympani, and that at the 

 same time other fibres from the same fifth nerve might ultimately 

 join the glossopharyngeal nerve. There are no cases on record in 

 which disease of the glossopharyngeal nerve within the cranial 

 cavity has led to distinct loss of taste ; but cases have been 

 recorded in which disease of the fifth nerve within the cranial 

 cavity, and as far as could be ascertained limited to the fifth 

 nerve, has led to an entire loss of taste over the whole of one side 

 of the tongue, both back and tip. Such cases lead to the at least 

 provisional conclusion that the gustatory fibres are fibres belonging 

 to the fifth, though they may reach the tongue partly by way of 

 the glossopharyngeal, partly by way of the chorda tympani. 



