Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-11-05

y
Of the doubtful object, his mind is set
ut rest Immediately. A feather moving
in the breeze often imposes upon him
for moment, until sniff reveals the
fact that it is a dead feather only, and
not living butterfly
Dogs not only smell odors in an oc-
casional way, but they likewise seem
to extrect recognizable odor from al
most everything, rs Professor Groom
Robertson also suggests. Anacharsis
knows me, when ] am dressed in
clothes lie never saw before, by his
nose alone Let me get myself up in Il
with a mask, yet he will recognize me
ut once by some, to us, undiscoverable
perfume. Moreover, he will recognize
the same odor rs clinging to my
clothes after they have been taken off.
If shy Il pebble on the beach, he can
pick out that identical pebble by scent
amongst thousand others. Even the
very ground on which / have trodden
retains for him some faint mcmento of
my presence for hours afteIward.
The bloodhound can track II human
scent week cid, which argues dellcacy
of nose almost incredible to human
nostrils. Similarly, too, if you watch
Anacharsis ut this moment, you will
see that he runs up and down the path,
smiling away ut every stick, stone, and
plant, rs though he got II separate and
distinguishablc scent out of every one
Of them. And 50 he must, no doubt;
for if even the earth keeps perfume
of the person who has walked over it
hours before, surely every object about
us must have some faint smell or 9TH
er, either of itself or of objects which
have touched it, When we remember
thnt single grain of musk will scent
hundreds Of handkerchief 50 IL, 10 be
recognizable even by our defective or
gans of smell, there is nothing eXtrav-
agant i'll the idea that passing creatures
mny leave traces, discovcrable by keen
cr senses, on all the pebbles or straws
which lie across the road. Thus the
smells which make up half of the dogs
picture of the universe are probably
just MS continuous and distinct MS the
sights which make up the whole pic
turc in our own case, and which doubt
less coalescs with the other half in the
canine mind
We human beings remember smells
but i'll. The facts mentioned above,
however, show that the dog not only
recognizes, but also remembers, smells
far better than we do His high dis
elimination Of odors is joined to an
equally high power of memory in the
same direction. AncharSis remembers
from day to day the smell Of my
clothes, he recognizes old friends, after
long absence, by their odor; he recol-
lectS and knows the distinctive per
fumes of every bird or animal Nay,
more, il is probable that these smell
memories arc consolidated into Il regu-
lar succession in his mind, just rs
sight memories are consolidated in
ours. If you and have once been to
u place, we find our way back again by
remembering the visible aspect of the
road, the various streets and turnings,
the trees and houses, the hills and val
loys But if Anacharsis has once been
to II place, and goes there again, You
will see him taking notes aa he runs
along, not with his eyes, but with his
nose. You will see him give hearty
Whit Of recognition mt every corner, or
take Il dubitativc long breath mt nm I'M
certain cross-road, 1t has long been
known that dogs conveyed by train to u
strange place, or else carried in il COW
cred e,lsket, have often found their way
home again mt once, and without diff
ticulty Now Mr.. A. II. Wallace sug-
gcsts that they probably do soby observ-
ing and remembering the smells they
have met with on the way; and Pro
lessor Robertson further points out
that such memory is the sense of
smellin dog is most likely an Wbrokcn
whole. The dogs world" he says,
may he, in the main, world OF sights
and smells continuous in space In
other words, while you and think of u
given field US mass of visible objects,
Anacharsis very probably thinks of it
as Il mass of smells. Most likely il
seems no moro remarkable to dog
that he can remember Il whole string
of odors in their regular order than it
seems remal kahle To us that We can
remember our way from one point to
uIlblltI IN IltlllS III ~ Mllblt slElllH VI
visible objects, observed and rccollcct-
ed rs signs Of the road.
Again, when the dog thinks of any
thing, its smell must be main
part of his thinking about
il. lie must remember u man always
Is great extent as Il smellahle thing.
Indeed, the dog even dreams about
smells, rs we may see by his shifting
and growing in his sleep. If you watch
him narrowly, you can notice that Mt
one time he seems to dream Of hunt
ing, puts his nose down against the
hearth rug, and draws in his breath
with Il kind OF quiet satisfaction. rs if
engaged in silently tracking down his
game; while ut other times he seems to
dream about an enemy, when lie may
bc observed to take sharp Snorts of i
convulsivc kind, and to yelp angrily rs
he raises his head little from the
ground, in the half assumed attitude OF
battle.
These examples lead is Oh t. the
fact that smells must also be largely
connected in the canine mind with AL
kinds Of appropriate emotions. 5 me
.,f tknt,, t,,t,St pnttS.l f,a1;,,,v.,