How Do We Taste Things?
The sense of taste is closely associated with the sense of smell. In fact we do a good deal of what we think is tasting by using our sense of smell. A cold in the nose will sometimes destroy almost altogether the taste of food, so that there is a very close connection between the sense of taste and the sense of smell.
The sense of taste comes to us through the tongue, which is the principal organ of taste. The remainder of our sense of taste lies in the surface of the palate and in the throat. As in the case of the other senses, the sensation of taste is given us through nerves, the ends of which are all through those parts of the tongue, the palate and the throat, which contribute to this sense. More nerves of taste are located in the back part of the tongue than on the front, and it is said that when you have to swallow a bad dose of medicine it won’t taste so much if you put it on the front part of your tongue and then swallow, because there are so few tasting nerves there. The extreme tip of the tongue, however, is very thickly covered with the ends of the taste nerves. In like manner one could have the front end of the tongue cut off and still retain most of the sense of taste.
Now, in order to produce the sensation of taste, the substance to be tasted must come in contact with something which mixes with it and causes the sensation of taste. This is what happens when we taste anything. The juices or liquids which are caused to flow when anything is put into the mouth act on the substances which enter and give the taste nerves a chance to taste them. Really the nerves of taste are so placed in the mouth as to be regular guards or inspectors of what shall go into the stomach. You can see how well they are arranged. In the tip of the tongue quite a few of them; in the back part of the tongue a great many nerves, for from there the food goes into the throat, which delivers it to the stomach; then those in the palate and in the throat. They are arranged so that the taste nerves have ample opportunity to test what comes in and to give warning to the brain of what is being sent to the stomach. Sometimes the things that come into the mouth are so distasteful to the nerves of taste that they refuse to hand it over to the stomach, but instead cause the distasteful substance to be thrown out again immediately.
It is said that a good rule to follow in eating would be to swallow only such things as are pleasing to the sense of taste. On this principle many children would decide to eat nothing but candy, but do you know, if you tried that, the continuous tasting of sweets by our sense of taste nerves would cause them to repel further insertion of candy after a while. You know that too much of a good thing is bad for you, and that is what makes you feel badly when you have eaten too much of one thing.