The |tongue| is usually flat and moderately extensible. It consists of a network of bundles of striated |muscle fibers|, fibrous tissue, fat and lymphoid masses, ~mucous~-producing |glands|, and a covering of |mucous membrane|. It is an extremely mobile muscle that enables you to |taste| food, move it around as you chew, push it back into your |pharynx| (throat) when swallowing, and is an invaluable aid in speech. It is derived mostly from an outgrowth (tuberculum) in the floor of the |pharynx|. The tuberculum grows forward and is joined by other tissues from the region, forming this complex muscular organ of many uses.
