Taste and Smell

14. The filaments that make up the nerve center of the tongue be more easily moved than those that assist touch.

This is because:

• they are slightly more pliable
• the membranes that envelop them are thinner

These filaments can be moved in 4 different ways by the following particles.

1. Salt

The rigid particles of salt, when agitated and separated from each other by the movement of saliva, enter the pores of the tongue punctually and without flexing.

2. Acidic water

Conversely, the particles of acidic water flow obliquely into the same pores, striking them with very fine particles, which, however, are deflected when they encounter thicker ones.

3. Plain water

Plain water, on the other hand, do not enter any parts of the tongue or penetrate deeply into its pores; they merely moisten it.

4. The Water of life

The particles of the water of life penetrate the deepest and are agitated with the swiftest motion.

From this, it is evident how the soul perceives the various species of taste, considering the various ways in which particles of terrestrial bodies can act on the tongue.

The same particles of food that, when present in the mouth, can enter the pores of the tongue and thereby stimulate the sense of taste, are the ones that, when present in the stomach, can pass into the blood and eventually be assimilated by the other organs.

Thus, only those that gently titillate the tongue and thereby provide a pleasant taste sensation to the soul are suitable for this effect.

As for those that act too much or too little upon it, they cannot evoke taste unless they are either too sharp or too weak, and they are either too penetrating or too soft to be able to compose the blood and nourish certain organs.

The food particles that are so coarse or so closely united cannot be separated or diluted by the movement of saliva and thus cannot enter the pores of the tongue, cannot act on those nerves that serve taste; they only act on the nerves that exercise the sense of touch in general.

Similarly, those that lack pores, as they cannot cause the soul to perceive any taste, are also generally inept when they are sent into the stomach.

This is so universally true that often, as the temperament changes, the effectiveness of taste is also diminished, to the extent that food that was pleasing to the soul may seem tasteless and bitter to it at other times.

The reason for this is that saliva, coming from the stomach and imbued with the qualities of the humor with which the stomach abounds, mixes with the particles of food in the mouth and greatly promotes their action.

15. The sense of smell is also created by numerous filaments emanating from the base of the brain to the nose.

These filaments do not differ in any way from the nerves of touch or taste, except that they do not extend beyond the skull.

However, these filaments can be moved by particles much finer than those affecting the nerves of the tongue because:

• they are thinner
• they are more immediately affected by objects.

When this machine breathes, the finer air particles drawn into the nostrils penetrate the pores of the sieve-like bone. They either:

• go into the very concavities of the brain
• at least go into the space between the two membranes that envelope the brain.

Hence, they find a way to reach the palate, simultaneously.

Similarly, in a reciprocal flow, when air is expelled from the chest by breathing out, it returns through the palate to that space, and then passes again through the nostrils.

At the opening of this space, they encounter the ends of the said filaments, either:

• entirely bare or
• clothed only with a very thin membrane, which is easily moved.

These openings are so narrow that the passage of all terrestrial particles, including those coarser ones mentioned earlier as odors, are barred from reaching these filaments, except for those of the same nature as those that are made up of the water of life. These penetrate deeply after obtaining their shape.

Finally, those very minute terrestrial particles are always more abundant in the air than in other mixed bodies.

Only those slightly thicker or thinner than others, or more or less mobile due to their shape, can make the soul perceive odors.

When these excesses are very moderate and well-balanced among themselves, they will produce pleasant odors.

Those that act only in ordinary circumstances cannot be perceived by smell at all. Those that are excited with too much force or are moved too gently are displeasing.