Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1914-07-31
TASTE AND SMELL
Closely Allied, They Are the Most
Elusive of the Senses.
RIDDLE OF FLAVOR AND DOOR.

Smell Has Been Termed Taste at .
Distance" and the Way In Which
Anything 10 Appreciated BY The cslls
81 Taste and Smell 10 RxAstiy Alike.
We think Ne know all about tastiug
and smelling. but these are the most
elusive senses and 70 closely allied that
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 1t be the most tasty"
In fact. flavor and odor are great
puzzles to all of the physical inyestiga-
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 Teen termed taste at distance
and the way in which anything is ap
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 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 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 II 1t touches any spot be-
tween these it is not tasted at all. The
filiform 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 capil-
lac. looking like little mushrooms
! (whence the name). with taste buds Of
their own. and there are also the cir
cumvallate papillae, only seven or ten
In number, lying toward the back Of
the tongue. forming V. with the apex
pointing toward the throat These are
little mounds with meats 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 bitter powder and 1t 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 1t is found that they
are 1900 of an inch long and 1900 OF
an inch broad. oval In shape, some
thing like a small Florence flask. The
proof that tasting Is a chemical prog
ess lies in the fact that anything that
: is to be tasted must be soluble, fol
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
25S OF a second for perception.
Another popularity Of taste is tina
after very strong taste Of any kint
I we cannot so easily distinguish slight
err Havors. The nerve energy has beer
exhausted for a time. and only aftel
= a little does 1t return. If you have
5 eaten sweets for dessert you mus
drink some water to clear the moutl
of the sweet taste or your coffee will
taste very bitter. no matter how mucl
! sugar you put into it, The profes
sional tea faster knows that the gusta
tory nerve becomes exhausted, for aft
er series of hastings he stops to Civ
his nerve of taste an opportunity to re
turn to its normal condition.
In taste and smell alike all individ
uals differ. The same food does no
9 fasfe Drecisely the same TO any two in