Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-07-26
THE NOSE.
The Useful Organ Costs the Community
Great Deal.


From the New FORK Ledger
The nose unquestionably is intimately
connected with the imagination and the
memory. In fact, through its double av-
enue pass some of the most important and
interesting sensational messages transmit
ted from the world around us to the senso-
rum and the SOUL Among the five per-
ceiving agencies that telegraph intelli-
gence TO headquarters, the sense, of which
the nose is the outward and visible sign.
Is certainly entitled to rank as number
three, and We are not sure that its true
place is not somewhat higher in the SCALE
The position of the nose in the center of
the face-and as the song of "Gideon" re-
marks, sit wouldn't look as well in any
other PLACES an honorable one. The
organ stands out in bold relief as leading
feature of the animal system. 1t marshals
US the way that we should go, and willy
nilly, we are bound to follow it. Then it is
the acknowledged seat Of personal honor.
10 biacken mans eyes, to smite him on
the mouth or on the ear, is an affront that
may be eondoned; but tweak his nose and
he demands satisfaction" In that pro-
tuberance, be it snub or aquiline, Grecian
or grotesque, is ensconced, as in sacred
shrine, the pride and dignity of manhood
He who should submit with meekness to
have it rudely manipulated by the thumb
and finger of his fellow men, except in
shaving, would be thenceforth dubbed a
coward
The eyes are useful pieces of mechanism,
no doubt, but in the absence of light their
lenses and mirrors are not worth silver
The vigilant nose, on the contrary, per-
ceives in the dark, What saved our city
from general conhagration on the memo
rable night of the 25th of November, 1864?
In five out of the twelve hotels fired by in
cendiaries, either the guests or the attend
ants experienced smelln which led them.
by the nose, to the point of danger. The
watchfulness of the sharpest ear may be
baffied. Burglars, shod in felt, may trav-
erse halls and mount stair cases unheard.
But the human proboscis is always on the
qui viye. The subtle favor of the morning
steak, broiling in the basement, is recog-
nized in the tfth-story attic by that deli
cate organ, and the toilet of Its owner is
accelerated thereby. Memories of foregone
tender slices and expectations of the like
to come, fit through his brain and kindle
by sympathy the energies of his palate.
Neither his eyes nor his ears have fur
nished him with the appetizing informa-
tion imbibed so agreeably through his nose.
Enormous sums are expended in prepar-
ing impalpable luxuries for that discrimi-
mating feature. On the flower farms OF
France are raised annually upward of q
100000 pounds of floral leaves for the ben
eft OF the fastidious little Sybarite The
quantity of essence and extracts manufact-
ured for its delectation is almost incredi-
ble-to say nothing of the tobacco dust
with which the unrefined members of the
olfactorv family are accustomed to gorge
themselves. The public nose furnishes en-
ployment to hundreds of thousands of flow
er culturists, and upon the poetic sensibili-
ties of its mucous membrane depend the
bread and butter of the inhabitants of en-
tire provinces.
And think of the vast quantities of fax
grown, the innumerable looms kept in mo-
tion, to supply the nose with its appropri-
ate drapery Reflect what an impetus
ladies noses have given of late years to the
embroidery business. We have heard that
a fashionable bellies stock of pocket hand
kerchiefs is sometimes worth $1,000 or
$1,000. The laundry work for the mem
Der is also quite an expensive item, and
the advertisements of its fragrant food oc-
cupy whole columns of the daily papers.
1t is astonishing how much the community
pays for the nose and through the nose to
florists, perfumers, snuffnakers and dry
goods merchants. The only blot upon its
character is that it is too apt to poke itself
into matters with which it has no legiti-
mate concern.