TONGUE
"The tongue is a strong muscle anchored to the floor of the mouth. It is covered by the lingual membrane which has special areas to detect tastes" (Medicine Net).
STRUCTURE
USE
Have you ever tasted a new food with the tip of your tongue and found that it tasted sweet? Then to your unpleasant surprise when you swallowed, it tasted bitter. The tongue is the sense organ that allows you to taste. How does this work? Taste buds on you tongue are the major sensory receptors for taste. Approximately ten thousand taste buds are found all over your tongue enabling you to tell one taste from another. Taste buds respond to more than one taste sensation. There are actually four basic taste sensations: sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. In addition to taste the tongue plays a critical part in the speech process.
IMPORTANCE
Without the tongue you would not be able to enjoy the many delicious foods that exist today. You would not be able to say whether the food is too salty, spicy, bitter, sour or sweet. Verbal communication would be impossible, since the tongue plays such a vital role in the speech process. Professions that rely much on the tongue such as lawyers, radio and television broadcasters need not exist.
