CHAPTER VI. 



ANATOMY OF THE GTJSTATOBY ORGAN. 



Contents. — 1. Distribution of Taste-buds in the Oral 

 Cavity of Man. 2. Comparative Distribution of Taste- 

 buds. 3. General Form of Taste-buds. 4. Cellular Com- 

 position of Taste-buds. 5. Intragemmal and Other 

 Spaces. 6. Innervation of Taste-buds. 7. Gustatory 

 Nerves. 8. Relation of Gustatory Nerve Fibers and 

 Taste-buds. 9. Bibliography. 



1. Distribution of Taste-buds in the Oral Cavity of 

 Man. In man the organs of taste are located in the 

 mouth. These are the so-called taste-buds discovered 

 independently by Loven (1867) and by Schwalbe (1867). 

 In the adult human being they have been identified on 

 the dorsal surface of the tongue except the mid-dorsal 

 region, on both the anterior and posterior surfaces of the 

 epiglottis, on the inner surface of the arytenoid process 

 of the larynx, on the soft palate above the uvula, on the 

 anterior pillars of the fauces, and on the posterior wall 

 of the pharynx. All other oral surface in the adult, such 

 as the lips, the gums, the cheeks, the inferior surface of 

 the tongue, the hard palate, the uvula, and the tonsils 

 are devoid of these organs. 



In young individuals, babes, and human embryos 

 taste-buds are more widely distributed than they are in 

 the adult. According to Tuckerman (1890a, 1890b) and 

 Graberg (1898) taste-buds appear in man at about the 

 beginning of the third month of foetal life. Stahr (1902) 

 found them in human embryos in the middle of the dor- 



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