736 



NOSE. 



ing, the sensation which immediately precedes 

 the act may be the consequence of direct irri- 

 tation of the glottis, or of irritation of another 

 part, such as the distant bronchial tubes, from 

 which the impression is conveyed to the brain, 

 and there, as it is supposed, is radiated to the 

 central extremities of the nerves of the glottis, 

 and is felt as if it were applied to their peri- 

 pheral extremities. In either case the peculiar 

 sensation at the glottis is the necessary pre- 

 cedent of the act of coughing; and it is the 

 same in sneezing. A sudden vivid impression 

 of light upon the retina, or, sometimes, the 

 irritation of a tender point on the skin of the 

 face, produces a sensation of pain or irritation 

 in the mucous membrane of the nose, and 

 sneezing follows. The sequence of events may 

 be supposed to be, an impression on the peri- 

 pheral filaments of the retina, its conveyance 

 to their central extremities in the brain, its 

 radiation to the centra! extremities of the sen- 

 sitive nerves of the nose, producing the same 

 sensation as if their peripheral extremities had 

 been irritated, and, through that sensation, 

 whether it be objective or subjective, the half 

 involuntary act. 



The great prominence of the external nose, 

 and the comparative smallness of its internal 

 cavities, form one of the most distinguishing 

 characters of the human face. Cuvier has 

 pointed out how the relative proportion in size 

 between the cranium and the cavities of the 

 nose and mouth affords an indication of the 

 approach towards perfection of the internal and 

 intellectual faculties in comparison with the 

 external or sentient. For the senses of smell 

 and taste " are those which act on animals 

 with the most force, which most powerfully 

 master them, through the energy which two of 

 the most pressing desires, hunger and lust, 

 communicate to their impressions.''* But in 

 man the sense of smell is, in both these re- 

 gards, subordinate to that of sight; and the 

 developement of his internal olfactory appa- 

 ratus is, in comparison with that of lower ani- 

 mals, extremely small. In the varieties of the 

 human race the perfection of the sense and the 

 developement of its organ are the less the 

 more civilized their several habits of life are. 

 Among ourselves, the blind alone maintain the 

 sense in the energy of which it is capable, and 

 in which it is said to be habitually exerted in 

 some less civilized tribes. In the latter a 

 greater developement of the organ of smell, 

 and even of its osseous part, corresponds with 

 its greater acuteness and the degree in which it 

 is exerted. The greater distance between the 

 orbits, which is especially remarkable in the 

 Kalmucks and other Mongolian tribes, may be 

 an indication of this greater developement; 

 but a more important one is the size and com 

 plexity of the turbinated bones. The nasal 

 fossae of the skulls of Negroes are larger in all 

 their dimensions than those of Europeans; and 

 Soemmering,f in numerous examinations, found 

 the sinuses within the middle turbinated bones 



* Lemons d'Anatomie Comparee, ii. 160. 

 t Ueber die Vcrsthiudciiheit des Netrers. 



constant in the Negro, though rare in others. 

 Blumenbach* confirms both these observations, 

 and mentions particularly the skull of a North- 

 American Indian in his collection, in which 

 these sinuses were of extraordinary size. How- 

 ever, these differences of size are probably not 

 a full measure of the differences of acuteness 

 of the sense: it is most likely that in the nose 

 as in the other organs of sense, acuteness of 

 perception is connected with fineness of di- 

 vision, rather than with extent of distribution, 

 of the recipient nerve. 



The prominence of the nose is even more 

 characteristic of man than the smallness of its 

 cavities. In other Mammalia it stands out, 

 indeed, much further from the skull, but it is 

 in company with the upper jaw, beyond which 

 it does not, as in man, project. For the same 

 reason, the nostrils, which in man are hori- 

 zontal and directed downwards, in adaptation 

 to his erect posture, and to his hand ever ready 

 to carry objects to them, are, in the lower ani- 

 mals, vertical. The nasal processes of their 

 superior maxillary bones, also, lying flat and 

 being very broad, and the small size of their 

 nasal bones, prevent the peculiarly human 

 elevation of the bridge of the nose. 



The forms of the external nose are among 

 the characteristics of the varieties of our spe- 

 cies. In all its almost infinite varieties of form 

 the Caucasian nose is on the whole narrow, 

 elongated downwards, and elevated at the 

 bridge ; the Mongolian is flat and very broad 

 at its base ; the American less flat than the 

 Mongolian, but less prominent than the Cau- 

 casian; the Ethiopian flat, broad, and very 

 thick at its base; the Malay full and broad, 

 and, in general, thicker at its apex than the 

 other varieties are. As for the varieties of 

 form in the individuals of the same race or 

 nation, they have little, if any, physiological 

 interest : they are not known to have any con- 

 nection with differences of function, and the 

 importance they have acquired is founded on 

 the unsupported notion that they are charac- 

 teristic of corresponding varieties of temper 

 and of intellect. 



MORBID ANATOMY OF THE NOSE. 



Congenital defects. The extreme of these is 

 found when the normal state of the very early 

 fast us continues and the nose is nearly absent. 

 Such a case is described by Soemmering. The 

 child was born at the full term : the brain was 

 malformed, and there were no olfactory nerves. 

 In place of nasal bones there was but one small 

 lens-shaped bone, and the ethmoid bone was 

 little developed : the eyes were close together, 

 but the orbits had not coalesced. A similar 

 example is mentioned by Roederer, in which a 

 child with malformed ears had in place of nose 

 a scarcely perceptible elevation, no nostrils, 

 and for nasal fossae a blind pouch formed by 

 mucous membrane. Vrolik,f by whom these 

 cases are quoted, describes another in a pig 



* Institutiones Physiologicae. 

 f Handhoek der 'Ziektekundige Ontleedkunde, 

 D. ii. p. 70. 





