Morning journal and courier., 1885-09-24

A Hans and a Dogs Sense sof Saell-
 ing.
 From the Gentleman's Magazine
 man may walk for miles without once being actually conscious that he possesses such 8 ss smell beyond the general sen sation of being in a pure and fresh atmos- phere. Half dozen times perhaps in his walk he wakes up to it. A beanfield in bloom or bank of violets or burning weeds or new mown hay or some blossoming woodbine or the wallfowers or m:gnonette in cottage garden-some one or other of these may ar rest his attention at rare intervals by their fragrance and so steal into notice; but the
 man does not look for them, and he is quite content to begin and finish his walk-if it so happen-without any of them. How differ ent with the dog who has set out with him, and has been enjoying his walk side by side with his master, receiving impressions from the same surroundings and nnder the same eircumstances! What completely different aspect things have had for him! If, when they reach home, the dog were able to make known his impressions and spread them out side by side with his masters, they would probably be as opposite as the poles-just as unlike as if they had been received, these on this earth, and the others among the noun
 
 instant and see what his interests are center ed in, what sense it is that congresses his at tention most. He has an exceedingly quick eye and ear, and it would be difficult for even mouse of lightest foot to emerge from it's ! hole and creep round the old stump close by and in again without being detected. The faintest rustic of leaf, the slightest move ment, would be sufficient to betray it's pres ence. Either through eye or ear, very likely through both at the same instant, the dog will be made conscious of the interesting lit tie circumstance. But quick as all his senses are, it is to that of smell, above all, that the dog trusts. This is the final arbiter-the test to which all difficult problems are sub- l jected, and by which all doubts are solved. l It is in a world of scents that dog lives and moves and has his being. What a curi- | ous scent this bramble leaf has! and this spot in the road! and that last nettle he pass ed-how interestingl How unlike all other l nettles he ever met with! He must return and investigate! And, doing so, he beco mes, | for few moments, so engrossed that even his masters command can scarcely persuade | him to leave it. And then, as to judging of character, let reader who possesses dog say whether he knows of any test that can be l for one moment compared with the test SUD- piled by the bundle of nerves that spread l themselves out at the tip of dogs nose. If pun may be pardoned, would express my belief that by no other known means can so correct diagnosis of mans character be obtained At all events, all will agree that a dog depends upon it without any reserve whatever, and no amount of fattery will serve to alter the opinion he has by such means arrived at. And who does not re- member how, when Ulysses returned home after his many years' absence disguised as a
 beggar, neither length of time nor change of appearance and clothing served for moment to deceive his faithful hound. While every other member of the household was regarding him as stranger his dog came up and in stantly discovered his identity.