The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1914-01-12
TASTE AND SMELL
Closely Allied, They Are the Most
Elusive OF the Senses.
RIDDLE OF FLAVOR AND ODOR.
Smell Has Been Termed Taste at .
Distance and the Way In Which
Anything is Appreciated by the Cells
of Taste and Smell Is Exactly Alike.

Anything is Appreciated by the Cells /
of Taste and Smell Is Exactly Alike.
We think we know all about tasting /
ana smelling. bot these are the most !
they have been called the welded /
senses" If you wish TO be cont incrd /
OF the closeness Of their connection
notice the next time you have a severe ,
little taste YOU get from your food
even though it be the most tasty"
In fact. flavor ana odor are great
puzzles 10 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 hay
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 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 10 be tasted
It. too. is dissolved in the juices of
the mouth and then makes its way to
some one or more Of the taste cells,
" han lao gh ~ taI- r,la
which sets up a sensation in the gus
tatory nerve. and We really taste the
substance and announce to ourselves
or others hon K 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 rhe tongue and
anything touching it on these papiliae
j. tasted. but if ii touches any spot be-
tween these it is not tasted mt all The
filiform papilae are ut the tip Of the
tongue and at the sides. ana each one
contains special taste buds" which
dissolve something Of the substance
put on them and transfer the sensation
10 the underlying nerve of taste
Then there are the fungiform capi-
lac. looking like little mushrooms
(whence the nance. with taste buds Of
their own. and there are also the cir
cnmvalllte panillae. only seven or ten
In number living toward the back OF
the tongue. forming Il 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 ar all. and
/ this is the reason that ii we are 10
/ take u bitter powder ard il is carefully
I placed ut the center of the tongue it
can be washed down quickly by u 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 1880 Of
m inch broad oval in shape. some
thing like small Florence flask. The
proof that tasting is n 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 classi-
fed as sweet. bitter. acid and saline,
and experiment has shown that We
taste salty foods most rapidly-in Il
of a secondhand that sweet acid ana
bitter take longer the last requiring
.25S of second for, perception.
Another popularity of taste IS that
after very strong taste Of any kind
we cannot so easily distinguish slight
er fiayors The nerve energy has been
exhausted for time and only after
Il little does il return. II you have
eaten sweets for dessert You 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 q series of hastings he stops to give
, his nerve of taste an opportunity TO re
turn to its normal condition.
J In taste and smell alike ali indiyid
uals differ The same food does not
taste precisely the same to any two in
} dividuais any more than the same per
fume smells the same. There is n gen
eral resemblance, but the expert VIII,
J has trained his sense OF smell or tast,
, perceives inner distinctions than IT.
person who has given little attention
to these special senses and their &c
velopment Arguments are OF no avail
. as was recognized in the popular anc
ancient proverh. There is 10 disput
a Ing about tastes" There is no Scien
titic explanation of the fact that on
person likes onions and another abhor
them. Some persons are fond o
: olives only after they have cultivate
= the taste. The only suggestion of a
: explanation is that in some person
" ~ fbarni,.at .sbnnUaS hrnuuht a hon