Milford chronicle., 1913-11-07
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 Smell Is Exactly Alike.

I
elusive senses and SO closely allied tina
they have been called the "wedde,
senses. If you wish to be convince,
Of the closeness Of their connection
notice the next time you have a sever,
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 odpr are great
puzzles 10 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 hay
ing to DO with these sensations. Smell
has been termed taste at a distance. 90
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 disSoly-
ed in the mucous covering Of the olfac-
tory bulb before its odor can be caught
and transferred to the end Of the OIL
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 taste cells.
when the chemical change takes place
which sets up a sensation in the gus
tatOry nerve. and we really taste the
substance and announce 10 ourselves
or others how il 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 1
true. There are three chief kinds Of /
papillae Of taste on the tongue. and /
anything touching it on these papillae /
Is tasted, but il 1t touches any spot be-
tween these It is not tasted at all. The
hliform papillae are at the tip Of the
tongue and at the sides. and each one
contains special taste buds which
dissolve something Of the substance
put on them and transfer the sensation
20 the underlying nerye Of taste.
Then there are the fungiform capH-
ae. looking like little mushrooms
whence the nameI. with taste buds OF
heir own. and there are also the cir
papillae. only seven or ten
n number. lying toward the back OF
he tongue. forming a V. with the apex
.ointing toward the throat These are
title mounds with mOats around them
nd taste buds lying in the moats TO /
atch whatever particles Of food may
each thus far sufficiently dissolved
D be tasted.
The middle Of the tongue and the
ard palate have no taste at all, and
his is the reason that If we are to
Ike bitter powder and 1t is carefully ,
laced at the center Of the tongue it I
IN be washed down quickly by a gulp
water leaving no taste in the )
outh.
The taste bulbs have been carefully :,
easured. and it is found that they !
e 1900 uf an inch long and 1900 Of
] inch brold. oval in shape, some :,
ling Ike a small Florence flask. The y,
'Oof that tasting is a chemical proc ~
5 lies in the fact that anything that y
to be tasted must be soluble for |
e unchewed food or hard coated dill =,
not tasted Tastes have been classi- -
d as sweet. bitter. acid and saline. -
ID experiment has shown that we
ste salty foods most rapidly-in II
a secondhand that sweet acid and
tier take longer. the last requiring ~,
IS Of a second for perception. -
Another PECULIARLY Of taste is that -
ter very strong taste of any kind -
. cannot 50 easily distinguish slight 80 -
iavorS. Tie nerve energy has been 4,
lausted for time. and only after =,
little does it return II You have -
zen sweets for dessert you must
nk some water to clear the mouth "a
the sweet taste or your coffee will -.
te very bitter no matter how much
;ar you put into it. The profes-
nal tea faster knows that the gusta-
Y nerve becomes exhausted. for aft
a series Of hastings he stops to give ''1' !
nerve Of taste an opportunity to re-
n to its normal condition. Leo
AAHtE anu sAAAeii alike all luQlflu-
$ differ The same food does not tlu
-e precisely the same to any two in
duals, any more than the same per u
he smells the same. There is a gen
resemblance. but the expert who u .ne
trained his sense Of smell or taste iS'
'eives finer distinctions than the
iOn who has given little attention -.
hese special senses and their de-
pment Arguments are Of no avail. -
vas recognized in the popular and -
ent proverb. There is no disput- De- ne
about tastes" There is no scien- -,
explanation of the fact that one ~
on likes onions and another abhors
]. Some persons are fond of
s only after they have cultivated .r
taste. The only suggestion Of an ~
lnation is that IA some persons 81
chemical changes brought about ..g
Mons or olives are pleasing. while -
hers they are offensive. II is the
itory nerve that tells the tale. but
IS understood about it.-New -
World.