CHAP. IV.Of the Sense of Smelling.
Of the Sense of Smelling.
This Sense I shall dispatch in less Compass than the two last, because its Apparatus (although sufficiently grand and admirable, yet) is not so multiplicious as of the Eye and Ear; it being sufficient in this Sense, that the odoriferous Effluvia of Bodies[a]can have an easy, free Passage to the olfactory Nerves, without the Formalities of Refractions, and other Preparations necessary to the Perfection of the two former Senses. Accordingly the all-wise Creator hath made sufficient Provision for the Reception of Smells, by the Apertures of the Nostrils[b]; made not of Flesh, or Bone, but cartilaginous, the better to be kept open, and withal, to be dilated or contracted, as there is occasion: For which Service it hath several proper and curious Muscles[c].
And forasmuch as it is by Breathing[d], that the odorant Particles are drawn in, and convey’d to the Sensory; therefore there is a very wise Provision made in theLaminæ, with which the upper Part of the Nose is barricaded, which serve to two excellent Uses: Partly, to fence out any noxious Substances from entering the breathing Passages in our Sleep, or when we cannot be aware[e]; and partly, to receive the Divarications of theolfactory Nerves, which are here thick spread, and which do by these Means meet the Smells entring with the Breath, and striking upon them.
And accordingly, the more accurate this Sense is in any Animal, the longer we may observe thoseLaminæare; and more of them in number folded up, and crouded together, to contain the more nervous Filaments, and to detain and fetter the odoriferous Particles in their Windings and Turnings.
And an admirable Provision this is, which the great Creator hath made for the good of brute Creatures[f]; the chief Acts of many of whose Lives, are perform’d by the Ministry of this Sense.In insects, and many other Creatures, it is of great Use in the Propagation of their Kind; as particularly in helping them to safe and convenient Places for the Incubation of their Eggs, and breeding up their Young. Others are by the Accuracy of this Sense, of Use to Mankind, which would be otherwise of little or no Use[g]. And most of the irrational Animals, Birds, Beasts, and creeping Things, do, by their Smell, find out their Food; some at great Distances, and some at Hand. With what Sagacity do some discover their Food in the Midst of Mud and Dirt[h]? With what Curiosity do the herbaceous Kind pick and chuse such Plants as afford them wholsome Food, or sometimes such as are Medicinal[i], and refute such as would hurt and destroy them? And all by the Help principally, if not only, of the Smell, assisted by its near Ally the Taste. Of which I shall in the next Place speak very briefly.
FOOTNOTES:[a]Piece ofAmbergreasesuspended in a Pair of Scales, that would turn with a very small Part of a Grain, lost nothing of its Weight in 3½ Days; neither didAssa fœtidain 5½ Days; but an Ounce ofNutmegslost 5½ Grains in 6 Days; andCloves7⅘ Grains.Boyl’s Subtil. of Effluv.c. 5.[b]Nares, eò quòd omnis Odor ad superiora fertur, rectè sursum sunt: Et quòd Cibi & Potionis judicium magnum earum est, non sine causâ vicinitatem Oris secutæ sunt.Cicero de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 56.[c]Had not the Contriver of Animal Bodies been minded that his Work should have all the Signatures of Accuracy, this Sense might have been performed with a bare Aperture of the Nose; but that nothing might go imperfect out of his Hand, he hath made a part of the Nose easily moveable, and given a Set of Muscles to lift up, and open and shut the Nostrils; and so adjust it to every Occasion of this Sense.[d]Odorem non aliud, quàm infectum Aera, intelligi posse.Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 9. c. 7.[e]For a further Guard against the Ingress of noxious Things, theVibrissi, or Hairs placed at the Entrance of the Nostrils serve, which, in some measure, stop the Entrance of Things improper, or however give Warning of them, but at the same Time allow an easy Passage to the Breath and Odours.[f]Multò præclarius emicat [Olfactus] in brutis animalibus, quàm in homine: ista namque hoc solo indice, herbarum, aliorumque corporum priùs ignotorum virtutes certissimè dignoscunt, quin & victum suum absentem, vel in abstruso positum, Odoratu venantur, ac facillimè investigant. Quòd autem minùs sagaces sunt hominum nares, illud non facultatis hujus abusui (prout nonnulli volunt) ascribi debet, verùm in causâ est ipsius Organi defectus: hoc enim circa victûs humani criteria (ubi ratio, & intellectus adsunt) non ita accuratum requiritur: Proptereà enim inferiores potentiæ in homine, à naturâ minùs perfectæ existunt, ut superiorum cultui & exercitio relinqueretur locus.Willis de Anim. Brut.cap. 13.[g]Thus the chief Use of Hounds is to hunt; and other Dogs, to be a Watch and Guard to our Houses by Night. For which Services (particularly in Hounds) theirOlfactory Nervesare not only remarkably large, (like as they are in other Brutes,) but their Branches and Filaments are, in theLaminæof the Nostrils, both more and larger than I have seen in any other Creature whatsoever. Also there are more Convulsions of theLaminæthan I ever remember to have found in any other Animal.The Sagacity of Hounds is prodigious, of which see an Instance inBook IV. Chap. 11. Note (hhh).[h]SeeBook VII. Chap. 2. Note (e).[i]Vid.Plin. Hist. Nat.l. 8. cap. 27.Quæ animalia quas herbas ostenderunt.
[a]Piece ofAmbergreasesuspended in a Pair of Scales, that would turn with a very small Part of a Grain, lost nothing of its Weight in 3½ Days; neither didAssa fœtidain 5½ Days; but an Ounce ofNutmegslost 5½ Grains in 6 Days; andCloves7⅘ Grains.Boyl’s Subtil. of Effluv.c. 5.
[a]Piece ofAmbergreasesuspended in a Pair of Scales, that would turn with a very small Part of a Grain, lost nothing of its Weight in 3½ Days; neither didAssa fœtidain 5½ Days; but an Ounce ofNutmegslost 5½ Grains in 6 Days; andCloves7⅘ Grains.Boyl’s Subtil. of Effluv.c. 5.
[b]Nares, eò quòd omnis Odor ad superiora fertur, rectè sursum sunt: Et quòd Cibi & Potionis judicium magnum earum est, non sine causâ vicinitatem Oris secutæ sunt.Cicero de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 56.
[b]Nares, eò quòd omnis Odor ad superiora fertur, rectè sursum sunt: Et quòd Cibi & Potionis judicium magnum earum est, non sine causâ vicinitatem Oris secutæ sunt.Cicero de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 56.
[c]Had not the Contriver of Animal Bodies been minded that his Work should have all the Signatures of Accuracy, this Sense might have been performed with a bare Aperture of the Nose; but that nothing might go imperfect out of his Hand, he hath made a part of the Nose easily moveable, and given a Set of Muscles to lift up, and open and shut the Nostrils; and so adjust it to every Occasion of this Sense.
[c]Had not the Contriver of Animal Bodies been minded that his Work should have all the Signatures of Accuracy, this Sense might have been performed with a bare Aperture of the Nose; but that nothing might go imperfect out of his Hand, he hath made a part of the Nose easily moveable, and given a Set of Muscles to lift up, and open and shut the Nostrils; and so adjust it to every Occasion of this Sense.
[d]Odorem non aliud, quàm infectum Aera, intelligi posse.Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 9. c. 7.
[d]Odorem non aliud, quàm infectum Aera, intelligi posse.Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 9. c. 7.
[e]For a further Guard against the Ingress of noxious Things, theVibrissi, or Hairs placed at the Entrance of the Nostrils serve, which, in some measure, stop the Entrance of Things improper, or however give Warning of them, but at the same Time allow an easy Passage to the Breath and Odours.
[e]For a further Guard against the Ingress of noxious Things, theVibrissi, or Hairs placed at the Entrance of the Nostrils serve, which, in some measure, stop the Entrance of Things improper, or however give Warning of them, but at the same Time allow an easy Passage to the Breath and Odours.
[f]Multò præclarius emicat [Olfactus] in brutis animalibus, quàm in homine: ista namque hoc solo indice, herbarum, aliorumque corporum priùs ignotorum virtutes certissimè dignoscunt, quin & victum suum absentem, vel in abstruso positum, Odoratu venantur, ac facillimè investigant. Quòd autem minùs sagaces sunt hominum nares, illud non facultatis hujus abusui (prout nonnulli volunt) ascribi debet, verùm in causâ est ipsius Organi defectus: hoc enim circa victûs humani criteria (ubi ratio, & intellectus adsunt) non ita accuratum requiritur: Proptereà enim inferiores potentiæ in homine, à naturâ minùs perfectæ existunt, ut superiorum cultui & exercitio relinqueretur locus.Willis de Anim. Brut.cap. 13.
[f]Multò præclarius emicat [Olfactus] in brutis animalibus, quàm in homine: ista namque hoc solo indice, herbarum, aliorumque corporum priùs ignotorum virtutes certissimè dignoscunt, quin & victum suum absentem, vel in abstruso positum, Odoratu venantur, ac facillimè investigant. Quòd autem minùs sagaces sunt hominum nares, illud non facultatis hujus abusui (prout nonnulli volunt) ascribi debet, verùm in causâ est ipsius Organi defectus: hoc enim circa victûs humani criteria (ubi ratio, & intellectus adsunt) non ita accuratum requiritur: Proptereà enim inferiores potentiæ in homine, à naturâ minùs perfectæ existunt, ut superiorum cultui & exercitio relinqueretur locus.Willis de Anim. Brut.cap. 13.
[g]Thus the chief Use of Hounds is to hunt; and other Dogs, to be a Watch and Guard to our Houses by Night. For which Services (particularly in Hounds) theirOlfactory Nervesare not only remarkably large, (like as they are in other Brutes,) but their Branches and Filaments are, in theLaminæof the Nostrils, both more and larger than I have seen in any other Creature whatsoever. Also there are more Convulsions of theLaminæthan I ever remember to have found in any other Animal.The Sagacity of Hounds is prodigious, of which see an Instance inBook IV. Chap. 11. Note (hhh).
[g]Thus the chief Use of Hounds is to hunt; and other Dogs, to be a Watch and Guard to our Houses by Night. For which Services (particularly in Hounds) theirOlfactory Nervesare not only remarkably large, (like as they are in other Brutes,) but their Branches and Filaments are, in theLaminæof the Nostrils, both more and larger than I have seen in any other Creature whatsoever. Also there are more Convulsions of theLaminæthan I ever remember to have found in any other Animal.
The Sagacity of Hounds is prodigious, of which see an Instance inBook IV. Chap. 11. Note (hhh).
[h]SeeBook VII. Chap. 2. Note (e).
[h]SeeBook VII. Chap. 2. Note (e).
[i]Vid.Plin. Hist. Nat.l. 8. cap. 27.Quæ animalia quas herbas ostenderunt.
[i]Vid.Plin. Hist. Nat.l. 8. cap. 27.Quæ animalia quas herbas ostenderunt.