Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1914-01-22
TASTE and SMELL
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.

VIC eAiuh we KNOW all about tasting
and smelling, but these are the most
elusive senses and so closely allied that
they have been called the welded
senses" If you wish to be convinced
of the closeness of their connection
notice the next time you have a 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 p~reponderance 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 a distance"
and the way in which anything is APP
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-
CSAJ a. OC1OlC lLS OuO1 Il DC 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 it's way to
some n 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 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
papillae of taste on the tongue, and
anything touching it on these papillae
is tasted, but if it touches any spot be-
tween these it is not tasted at all. The
fliform 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
to the underlying nerve Of taste.
Then there are the fungiform capiI-
lac, looking like little mushrooms
(whence the Nance, with taste buds of
their own, and there are also the cir
cumyallate papillae, 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 meats around them
and taste buds lying in the meats 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 if we are to
take a bitter powder and it is carefully
placed at the center of the tongue it
can be washed down quickly by a gulp
Of water. leaving no taste in the
mouth.
The taste bulbs have been carefully
measured. and it is found that they
are 1900 of an inch long and 1900 Of
an inch broad. oval in shape.
thing like Il small Florence flask. The
proof that tasting is a chemical proc
ess lies in the fact that anything that
is to be tasted must be soluble. for
the unchewed food or hard coated pill
is not tasted. Tastes have been CLASH
fed as sweet. bitter. acid and saline,
and experiment has shown that we
taste salty foods most rapidly-in II
of a secondhand that sweet acid and
bitter take longer. the last requiring
.258 of a second for perception.
Another popularity of taste is that
after a very strong taste of any i
we cannot so easily distinguish slight
err f1avors. The nerve energy has been
exhausted for a time, and only after
a little does it return. If you have
eaten sweets for dessert vol must
drink some water to clear the mouth
Of the sweet taste or your coffee will
taste very bitter. no matter how much
sugar you put into it. The profess
sional tea faster knows that the gusta-
tory nerve becomes exhausted, for aft
er a series of hastings he stops to give
his nerve Of taste an opportunity to re-
turn to it's normal condition.
In taste and smell alike all individ-
uals differ. The same food does not
taste precisely the same to any two in
dividuals, any more than the same per-
fume smells the anne There is a gen.
eral resemblance, but the expert who
has trained his sense Of smell or taste
perceives finer distinctions than the
person who has given little attention
to these special senses and their de-
velopment. Arguments are of no avail,
as was recognized in the popular and
ancient proverb. "There is no disput-
ing about tastes" There is no scien-
tifc 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. 1t is the
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