nausea commonly produced by the first pipe of tobacco, and the way the
body may in time be persuaded, not only to tolerate many times such a
quantity without manifesting any unpleasant feelings, but to receive
pleasure from the drug. Opium or laudanum may be taken in gradually
increasing quantities, until such a dose is taken as would at first have
produced death, yet now without causing any immediate or very apparent
harm. Nearly all drugs loose much of their first effect on continued use.
Not only is this so, but a sudden discontinuance of a drug may cause
distress, as the body, when free from the artificial stimulation to which
it has become habituated, falls into a sluggish or torpid condition. For
the enjoyment of food two things are equally necessary, a healthy and keen
appetite and suitable food; without the first no food, however good and
skilfully prepared, will give satisfaction. The sense of taste resides in
certain of the papilloe of the tongue, and to a much less degree in the
palate. Tastes may be classified into sweet, bitter, acid and saline.
Sweet tastes are best appreciated by the tip, acid by the side, and bitter
by the back of the tongue. Hot or pungent substances produce sensations of
general feeling, which obscure any strictly gustatory sensations which may
be present at the same time. To affect the taste the food must enter into
solution. Like the other senses, taste may be rendered more delicate by
cultivation. Flavours are really odours, and the word smell would be more
appropriate. For example, what we call the taste of an onion, the flavour
of fruit, etc. (independent of the sweetness or sourness of the fruit) is
due to the nose.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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