Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1900-10-24
THE SENSE OF SMELL.
cCRrRASTED WITH SIGHT IT IS
SlNGULARLY UNDISCRlMINATlNG.

|
Compared with the Magnificent Organ
OF the Horse or Dog the Human Nose L
Insignificant.
1t is very doubtful, indeed, whether
people appreciate how great is the gull
between our human thoughts and feel
ings-t thoughts more than feelings -anl
those Of the lower animals. One heaG
commonplace of the possibility Of an
extra sense, and 80 on, often enough
but the entire difference of mental basis
that must exist between us and the oats,
dogs and horses which we fancy we up.
ierstand, seems hardly ever to be con-
ceived.
In one direction all animals arc alike
all dread death and physical injury
all eagerly seek and accept suitable
food; all have, in their srrlier years,
that tendency to release The serious
business Of after-life which we call
play.
These common needs and inclinations
furnish a mental substratum, that
roughly all may comprehend; but int
its crude and almost formless communi.
cations, what an infinite amount of our.
selves we are inclined to read in, with.
out further Justification
The human world Is world of pic.
lures; our memories are sight-images
hat we raise from their sleep in our
brains for little while.
But since the days Of Bishop Betke-
ley, We have come to perceive, moro
and more distinctly, that the eye sees
go clearly, not by its own virtue, but as
the result of TIE 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
.he 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 o
horny hoof. is in a particularly bad
case. 1t is impossible to believe that
the painting on the eye of these crea-
tures is interpreted by them with any.
thing like the delicacy or truth that we
can attribute to what we see. Moreover,
\ certain yellow spot Of distinct Wis.
ion, common to us and the apes, is ab,
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 Q single
picture of a world as we, in our waking
moments, look out upon?
A few simple experiments with cat
will convince any one that she can moi
distinguish hand with empty fingers,
held toward her from one containing
any not too odoriferous edible. And whiie-
the animal may not, and in all prob
ability does not, refer its world to
spaced picture and think in visible i'm
ages as We do, there is no doubt that in
other respects its sensations may have
4 definition Of mental value quite I'M.
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
BUR noses are poor things.
The human nose is an apologize
oimple compared with the magnificent
'rgan OF the horse or dog. Oul sense
If smell is, when contrasted with our
light and hearing, singularly undiscrim.
mating. We can arrange sounds into
know L is between g and f;
We appreciate octaves and harmonies.
we can put the colors into or.
Ter, decide upon the amount OF blue in
purple, and get almost to emotion at
he sight of white star in the blue of
ummer twilight, or of tho amber sun.
light gGnting between the blades OF
,rass.
But this serial arrangement, this sort
ng and selective choice, is entirely be-
ond our rudimentary senses of smell.
% us the idea of the scent of the violet
'eing rich harmony, or the suggestion |
hat the frying of onions is discord, OF
hat patchouli and the new-mown hay |
re pleasant things in different times
nd keys, sounds utter nonsense. Our
pses are entirely too dull to effect tho
hslysis necessary before scents can be
istinguished as complex, and sorted
nd recombined so as to be made an es.
hetic pleasure.
But with the ami pals we have named
Ii that is different. Half the head OF
horse or adult dog is nose. 1t is
robable, therefore, that the dogs mind
J based essentially on impressions OF
nell. He perceives the crafty Ulysses
though all DISCUSSES that hide him
ON human detection, shifts him and is
atisfed.
Any one who has watched lost dog
i the street must, or at least ought to,
erceive that the amman mas only the
aguest idea of what its adored master
'oks like. Only on that supposition
IN its movements be understood. The
feature is looking for a smell image
18th its nose; and o sense with such an.
ytical power as the dogs olfactory
exceptions exhibit, must certainly be
lpable of harmonic and discordant an
and affects.