The taste-names of primitive peoples / by Charles S. Myers.

  • Myers, Charles S. (Charles Samuel), 1873-1946.
Date:
[1904?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The taste-names of primitive peoples / by Charles S. Myers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    III. The inquiry, thus begun, was extended to other primitive peoples by means of a questionnaire, which I addressed to officials, missionaries and Europeans resident abroad. The trouble taken by these unknown friends to secure for me reliable information has in many cases been surprisingly great. Very often they expressly tested the natives with dilute solutions of tasting substances in the manner which I had prescribed. My hearty thanks are due to them for the kind feelings that led them to interrupt the routine of their (often busy) lives in order to furnish me with the material I desired. It is hardly necessary to point out the errors to which one is liable in an inquiry of this kind. Throughout I have used my discretion in selecting the most trustworthy returns1. As a rule, it was easy to gauge from the general character of the written reply how much care or knowledge had been brought to bear in answering the questionnaire. Perhaps the best evidence of reliability is furnished by the general broad agreement of the replies from very diverse parts of the world. The questions which I asked were the following:— “ I. By what word or words in their own language would natives describe the taste of solutions (1) of sugar, (2) of salt, (3) of weak acid, (4) of quinine (i.e. the tastes we call sweet, salt, sour, bitter) ? [The value of the results will be much enhanced if opportunity allow of specially conducted experiments by applying the above solutions to the tongue of even a single native. Specially mention if the given information is based on such experiments.] Possibly the same word is given to two tastes.” “ III. Give, if possible, the exact meaning of the words in I. [For instance, are the taste-words borrowed from the tasted substances (as in our English ‘ salt ’) ? Had they the original meaning of softness, sharpness, etc., or have they given rise to such meanings secondarily ? Or do they mean merely pleasant and unpleasant ?] ” (Questions II., IV., and V. were not concerned with the subject now at issue.) 1 In a few instances, by the advice of Mr S. H. Ray who has kindly read through my manuscript, I have made slight alterations in spelling. I have, I hope, acknowledged all the various sources of my information in the footnotes. But in order to save burdening this paper with excessive detail and unnecessary repetition, I have omitted many other¬ wise valuable returns, especially those which reached me after the manuscript had gone to press. I am indebted to Professor Bendall and Mr E. C. Quiggin of Gonville and Caius College, and to Mr E. H. Minns of Pembroke College, Cambridge, for help in the languages with which they are specially familiar.