OF SMELL. 101 



with the sensorium and internal senses, nor possesses 

 such influence over them, as the sense of smell.* 



No other is so liable to idiosyncrasies, nor so power- 

 ful in exciting and removing syncope. 



Nor is any other capable of receiving more de- 

 licate and delightful impressions; for which reason, 

 Rousseau very aptly called smell, the sense of imagi- 

 nation, f 



No sensations can be remembered in so lively a 

 manner as those which are recalled by peculiar odors. J 



NOTE. 



.An odor must, to be smelt, pass through the nostrils with a 

 stream of air: a large bottle of ammonia may be kept under 

 the nose for any length of time without affecting it, although 

 the ammonia is all the time flying off. Odorous substances 

 placed in the mouth and a very foetid secretion in the nose or 

 mouth are perceived only when the air is moving through the 

 nostrils and give a stronger impression the more forcibly the air 

 is impelled. 



External odors are smelt only when the air passes through 

 the nostrils from without : after smelling a substance in the 

 usual manner, we in vain attempt to catch the odor a second 

 time by returning the stream of air out again through the nostrils. 



* See Alibert on the Medical power of odors, Mm. de la Soc. Medic-ale. 

 T. i. p. 44. 



f Emile. T. i. p. 367. 



J Respecting the power of smell over morals and propensities, consult 

 Benj. Rush's Medical Inquiries and Observations. Vol. ii. p. 34. 



Sapid bodies are faintly tasted unless moved along the tongue. 



M 



