Tongue
in human anatomy, a muscular organ in the mouth, covered with mucous membrane, the muscular structure rendering it of use in mastication, deglutition, and the articulation of speech, while the mucous membrane, which is endowed with common and tactile sensibility, constitutes it the seat of the sense of taste. The tongue occupies the concavity of the arch of the lower jaw; its basal or hinder part is connected with the hyoid bone, while beneath it is attached by means of the genio-glossus muscle to the lower jaw. The tongue is marked along the middle for nearly its whole length by a slight furrow called the raphe, often terminating behind in a depression called the foramen cœcum, within which mucous glands open. The upper surface of the tongue in front of the foramen is covered with small eminences called papillæ, some circumvallate, others fungiform, and the rest filiform, the last being the most numerous. Behind these are numerous small racemose glands, called lingual glands.