ORGANS OF PERCEPTION. O11 
duce their effect on the organs of taste. Some suppose 
that they act chemically, others mechanically. 
The nomenclature of savours, though very imperfect, 1s 
more precise than that of smells, arising from the circum- 
stance that the impressions of sapid bodies are more perma- 
nent than of odours. 
We distinguish savours into agreeable and disagreeable, 
sour, sweat, bitter, hot, and cold; and in our descriptions 
of them, we frequently refer to well known bodies, as salt, 
sugar, vinegar, as standards of comparison. Sapid bodies 
appear to act with greater energy on some parts of the or- 
gan of taste than on others. ‘Thus, some affect the throat, 
others the palate or tongue. 
As different bodies act on the organs of taste in produ- 
cing a variety of different feelings, this sense 1s extensively 
used in the diserimination of bodies, more particularly those 
which serve as nourishment. Indeed, this sense appears 
almost exclusively subservient to the digestive system, so 
that the pleasure we derive from the savour of bodies in the 
mouth, is intimately connected with their salutary effects in 
the stomach. 
The information communicated by this sense is limited 
m its nature, in the inferior animals, to food. Man, how- 
ever, employs it to ascertain the composition and relation of 
bodies ; and, by experience, communicates to this sense a 
wonderful degree of sensibility, as we see in chemists, wine- 
dealers, and even epicures. 
It is probable that all animals possess the sense of taste, 
to enable them to make choice of the proper kind of food. 
Before concluding our remarks on the organs of percep- 
tion, some general observations may be made on their na- 
ture and mutual dependence. 
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