Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-11-17

Closely Allied, They Are the Most
Elusive Of the Senses.
RIDDLE OF FLAVOR AND oDoR.
Smell Has Been Termed "Taste at a
Distance" and the Way In Which
Anything Is Appreciated by the Cells
Of Taste and smelI 10 Exactly Alike.


they have been called the welded
senses" II you wish to be convinced
Of the closeness of their connection
notice the next time you have severe
cold In the head and ascertain how
little taste you get from your food
even though it be the most tasty"
In fact, flavor and odor are great
puzzles to all Of the physical investiga-
tors. The preponderance Of evidence
points to the suggestion that all taste
and odor are brought about by chemical
changes In the ends Of the nerves hav.
ing to do with these sensations. Smell
has been termed ''taste at distance
and the way in which anything is ap.
preciated by the cells of taste and
smell is precisely alike.
The infinitely small particle that
reaches the nose must first be dissolv-
ed In the mucous covering Of the olfac.
tory bulb before Its odor can be caught
and transferred to the end OF the ol-
factory nerve. The same is the case
with the thing that is to be tasted
1t. too, Is dissolved in the juices Of
the mouth and then makes its way to
some one or more Of the tnste cells.
when the chemical change takes place
which sets up d sensation In the gus
tatory nerve, and we really taste the
substance and announce to ourselves
or others how It tastes.
Most persons think that as the tongue
is the chief organ Of taste you could
taste anything placed anywhere on the
tongue But this is far from being
true, There are three chief kinds OF
papillue OF taste on the tongue, and
anything touching it on these papillae
Is tasted. but IL It touches any spot be-
tween these 1t Is not tasted ut all, The
tiliform papillae are at the tip of the
tongue and at the sides, and ench one
contains special taste ''buds,r which
dissolve something Of the substance
put on them and transfer the sensation
TO the underlying nerve of taste.
Then there are the fungiform capIl-
lac. looking like little mushrooms
twhence the namej, with taste buds OF
their own. and there are also the cir
cumvallnte pnplllne, only seven or ten
In number, lying toward the back Of
the tongue. forming a v, with the apex
pointing toward the throat. These are
little mounds with moats around them
and taste buds lying In the moats to
catch whatever particles Of food may
reach thus far sufficiently dissolved
to be tasted
The middle of the tongue and the
hard palate have no taste at all and
this is the reason that II we are to
take a Itterbowder and It Is carefully
placed at the center Of the tongue II
can be washed down quickly by a gulp
OF water. leaving no taste In the
mouth.
The taste bulbs have been carefully
measured. and II is found that they
are 1900 Of an inch long and 1900 OF
an inch broad. oval In shape, some.
thing like small Florence flask. The
proof that tasting 10 a chemical proc
ess lies In the fact that anything that
Ia TO be tnsted must be soluble. for
the unchewed food or hard coated pill
is not tasted. Tnstes have been classi-
fled ag sweet. bitter. acid and saline.
and experiment has shown that we
tastc salty foods most rapldly-in II
OF secondhand that sweet acid and
bitter take longer, the last requiring
25s OF second for perception,
Another peculiarly OF taste IN that
after a very strong taste Of any kind
we cannot so easlly distinguish slight
er nnvors, The nerve energy has been
exhausted for time. and only after
u little does II return, n you have
enten sweets for dessert you must
drlnk some wnter TO cleur the mouth
Of the sweet tnste or your coffee VIII
ulste very bitter, no matter how much
sugar you put into t. The profes-
sionn tea tnster knows that the gustn
tory nerve becomes exhausted, for aft
era series OF hastings be stops to give
bis nerve Of taste M opportunity to re
turn TO its normal condition
In taste and smell alike all indlyld
uals differ The same food does not
taste precisely the same TO any two IN
diylduals. any more thea the same per
fume smells the snme. There IL n gen
eral resemblance, but the expert who
has trained his sense Of smell or taste
perceiyes finer distinctions than the
person who has given little attention
10 these special senses nnd their de
yelopment Arguments are OF no avail
M was recognized IN the popular aud
ancient proverb, "Therc Is no dlsput
Ing about tastes" There is no sclen
tlilc explanation OF the fact that one
person likes onions and another abhors
them. Some persons are fond OF
olives only after they have cultivated
the taste. The only suggestion OF an
explanation is that IN some persons
the chemical changes brought about
by onions or olives are pleasing, while
in others they are offensive. II Is the
guStatory nerve that tells the tale, but
little Is understood about it--New
York World.
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why should we call ourselves men