Marvels of the Universe 



Let us pass on to the sense of taste. 

 Loven and Schwalbe detected, inde- 

 pendently and almost simultaneously, 

 in the epithehum of the papillae of the 

 tongue, many small bud-like groups 

 of cells, which are probably connected 

 with the ultimate fibres of the glosso- 

 pharvTigeal ner^'es. 

 These have been 

 supposed to be 

 the special seats of 

 the sense of taste, 

 and thence termed 

 " taste-buds "; the\' ^^ 

 are in a man shaped 

 like a flask ; in some 

 other animals they 

 are more slender. 



In the cow the number of these taste-buds has 

 been estimated at thirty-five thousand. In man 

 they almost touch each other on some parts of the 

 tongue, and their number is very great. Here, again, 

 it win be admitted that these structures give us no 

 help to realize in what actually consists the sense of 

 taste. 



Our knowledge of the organ of smell is equally 

 unsatisfactory. It consists of a mucous membrane 

 containing (i) cylindrical epithehal cells, with a 

 broad, flat termination at the free end ; and (2) of 

 rod-like filaments which, some Uttle distance below 

 the surface, swell out into a nut-shaped expansion, 

 and then contract again into a fine thread, which is 

 probably continuous with the fibrils of the olfactory 

 nerve. 



At first sight the sense of hearing may seem to be 

 better understood. The waves of sound in the air 

 play on the drum of the ear. Across the drum stretches 

 a chain of little bones, the last of which is shaped 

 somewhat like a stirrup, the flat plate of which rests 

 against the fenestra ovalis of the drum. The sounds 

 are thus probably intensified. Behind the fenestra 

 ovalis is the " labyrinth," which is filled with fluid, 

 and on which the final filaments of the auditory nerve 

 are distributed. The labyrinth consists mainly of two 

 parts — the cochlea and the semi-circular canals, which 

 are three in number and stand at right angles to one 

 another. It is considered that these act as balancing 

 organs, and it is found that if they are injured or diseased the body cannot be properly balanced. 

 Dean Swift was sometimes unable to walk straight, and was, therefore, as it would now appear, quite 



THE BIRD-PEA OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 



This flower bears a striking resemblance to a small 

 bird. The colour is yellowish-green with purple RtreaUs 

 which give an idea of feathers. 



A single flower detached and an eye added to 

 make the resemblance more pronounced 



