Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 1.djvu/719

 Rh a sense in another point of view. An agent acting upon the mucous membrane of the mouth, stomach, or intestine, may produce in the nervous system important effects as regards digestion, and yet we may have no sensation of this either through taste or through smell, its parts not entering into communication with the central organ of sensation.

Having thus given a notion of what he understands by condiments, the author lays some stress upon the foregoing considerations, in order to show that a substance may be rigorously denominated a condiment, without exercising any agreeable effect upon the organs of taste. Still the chief condiments do undoubtedly produce this effect. A mixture of pure albumen, fat, starch, salts, and water, would suffice for alimentation, and yet it would be a satisfactory ration only in case of extreme want. In any other case we should regard it as unpalatable, and should refuse to partake of it. All alimentary substances, even those which come from the vegetable kingdom, are combined with substances which, though not nutritious, still have a flavor, and the former are not easily digested unless they first gratify the palate. Substances without flavor, or which are repulsive to the palate, are nauseating, and cause vomiting. There exists, therefore, a functional relation between the central organ of taste and the stomach. If the former acts upon the latter adversely, it may also act favorably upon it. In like manner, too, the central organ of taste is influenced by the stomach. Satiety deprives food, which once was agreeable to us, of its power of gratifying the palate.

Several condiments act upon the stomach, or on the intestine, after having first produced an agreeable sensation of taste. The excitation to which they give rise does not extend to the central organ, there to produce the same sensation. They are limited to the stomach and to the intestine, and serve to favor digestion and absorption. The gastric juice, we know, is not secreted continually, but only when there is something in the stomach. When the mucous membrane of that organ is excited by the contact of a quill, for instance, or of a glass rod, the gastric juice begins to flow, and the vessels of the mucous membrane become charged with blood. The presence of food produces the same effect. But there are other excitations which appear to act even more powerfully on the stomach. If we introduce a drop of alcohol or ether, or a solution of common salt, into the stomach of a living animal, the juice will flow from the glands, just as the same effect is produced by the thought of some savory dish. We may observe this when we offer a hungry dog a piece of meat. It is for this reason that we frequently add to our food substances strongly salted or aromatized, as, for instance, a caviare [sic], or a glass of some spirituous liquor, such as sherry. The same effect may even be produced by the very sight of the label borne by such articles. When meat is roasted at a hot fire, it brings about this same result in the best and simplest manner; and most of