The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1893-01-13
THE SENSE OF SMELL.
CONTRASTED WITH SIGHT 1T Is
SINGULARLY DISCRIMINATING.

compared " htn Lhc vi Bhh
of the Horse or Dog the Human Nose Is
Insignificant.
1t is very doubtful, indeed, whether
people appreciate how great is the gulf
between our human thoughts and feel
,ngs-thoughts more than feelings-and
those of the lower animals. One hears
commonplaces of the possibility of an
extra sense, and SO on, often enough,
but the entire difference of mental basis
that must exist between us and the cats,
dogs and horses which we fancy we un-
lerstand, seems hardly ever to be con-
ceived.
In one direction all animals are alike
all dread death and physical injury;
all eagerly seek and accept suitable
food; all have, in their earlier years,
that tendency to release the serious
business of after-life which we call
play.
These common needs and inclinations
furnish mental substratum, that
roughly all may comprehend; but into
its crude and almost formless commune
cations, what an infinite amount of our
SclfCS we dIC lACldOo w 4O1o ALA, W4uh-
out further justification!
The human world is world of pic
lures; our memories are sight-images
that we raise from their sleep in our
brains for little while.
But since the days of Bishop Berke-
ley, we have come to perceive, more
and more distinctly, that the eye sees
so clearly, not by its own virtue, but as
the result of the education afforded it
by our hands. At first the world of the
child must be flat confusion of shapes,
which it learns to interpret by the move
ment of its hands over the forms it sees.
The vision is, at first, without depth,
without relief, without modelling or at
mosphere.
Those born blind, who at later age
have been restored to their sight by
medical skill, and who consequently
have not learned to connect sight and
touch impressions, fancied all the things
thew saw touched their eyes. Indeed,
it is one of the elementary teachings of
psychology, that our perception of space
in our vision of the world comes to us
through our fingers.
The lion has no fingers; neither do
the cat, the dog and the horse possess
these necessary media to nice discrim.
nation of shapes and position. The
horse, with its digits imprisoned in a
horny hoof, is in particularly bad
case. 1t is impossible to believe that
the painting on the eye of these crea-
lures is interpreted by them with any,
thing like the delicacy OF truth that we
can attribute to what we see. Moreover,
certain yellow spot of distinct Wis
ion, common to us and the apes, is alb
sent from their eyes.
The horse frequently seems to use his
eyes independently of each other. I'm
doubtedly the majority of animals do
so. Now, then, can we imagine in
their case, for moment, such a single
picture of world as we, in our waking
moments, look out upon2
A few simple experiments with cat
will convince any one that she can not
distinguish hand with empty fingers,
held toward her from one containing
any not too odoriferous edible. And while
the animal may not, and in all prob
ability does not, refer its world to
spaced picture and think in visible inn
ages as we do, there is no doubt that in
other respects its sensations may have
definition of mental value quite un-
known to the equivalent sense in our
selves. We may "carry faces to the
heavens, and stalk about the Tempo
rary lords of the world, but for all that
our noses are poor things.
The human nose is an apologetic
pimple compared with the magnificent
organ of the horse or dog Our sense
of smell is, when contrasted with our
sight and hearing, singularly undiscrim-
mating, We can arrange sounds into
series-we know E is between G and F;
we appreciate octaves and harmanies.
Similarly we can put the Qplors into or.
der, decide upon the amount of blue in
purple, and get almost to emotion at
the sight of white star in the blue of
summer twilight, or Of the amber sun.
light glintiag between the blades Of
grass
But this serial arrangement. this sort
ing and selective choice, is entirely be-
yond our rudimentary senses of smell.
To us the idea of the scent of the violet
being rich harmony, or the suggestion
that the frying of onions is a diseord, or
that patchouli and the new-mown hay
are pleasant things in different times
and keys. sounds utter nonsense. Our
poses are entirely too dull to effect the
anA1vsis nacessarv befora scantS con ho
distinguished as complex, and sorted
and recombined SO as to be made an es.
thetic pleasure,
But with the animals we have named
al shat IS different Half the head of
horse or adult dog is nose. 1t is
probable, therefore, that the dogs mind
is based essentially on impressions OF
smell. He perQeives the crafty Ulysses
through all disguises that hide him
from human detection, shifts him and is
satisfied.
Any one who has watched q lost dog
in the street must, or at least ought to,
perceive that the animal has only the
vaguest idea OF what its adored master
locks hike. Only on that supposition
can its movements be understood. The
creature is looking for a saen image
with its nose; and a sense with such an
alytical poweE as the dogs olfactory
perceptions exhibit, must certainly be
capable of harmonic and discordant an
rangement and affects.
Now here our reason takes as beyond
our powers of realization. How the
a.