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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



be sure that we have not discovered its origin. The truth of this im- 

 plication will seem less improbable on observing sundry ways in which 

 spontaneous manifestations of emotion initiate formal observances. 



The ewe bleating after her lamb that has strayed, and smelling 

 now at at one and now at another of the lambs near her, but at 

 length, by its odor, identifying as her own one that comes running 

 up, doubtless, thereupon, experiences a wave of gratified maternal 

 feeling ; and, by repetition, there is established between this odor and 

 this pleasure such an association that the first habitually produces 

 the last ; the smell becomes, on all occasions, agreeable by serving to 

 bring into consciousness more or less of the philoprogenitive emotion. 

 That, by some races of mankind, individuals are similarly identified, 

 the Bible yields proof. Though Isaac, with senses dulled by age, fails 

 thus to distinguish his sons from one another, yet the fact that, una- 

 ble to see Jacob, and puzzled by the conflicting evidence his voice and 

 his hands furnished, "he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed 

 him," shows that different persons, even members of the same family, 

 were perceived by the Hebrews to have their specific odors. And 

 that perception of the odor possessed by one who is loved, yields 

 pleasure, proof is given by another Asiatic race. Of a Mongol father, 

 Timkowski writes : " He smelt from time to time the head of his 

 youngest son, a mark of paternal tenderness usual among the Mon- 

 gols, instead of embracing." Describing the Philippine-Islanders, Ja- 

 gor says: "The sense of smell is developed among the Indians to so 

 great a degree that they are able, by smelling at the pocket-handker- 

 chiefs, to tell to which persons they belong ('Reisesk,' page 39) ; and 

 lovers at parting exchange pieces of the linen they may be wearing, 

 and during their separation inhale the odor of the beloved being, be- 

 sides smothering the relics with kisses." So, too, is it with the Chit- 

 tagong Hill people. Lewin tells us that " their manner of kissing is 

 peculiar. Instead of pressing lip to lip, they place the mouth and 

 nose upon the cheek and inhale the breath strongly. Their form of 

 speech is not, ' Give me a kiss ! ' but ' Smell me ! ' " And now note a 

 sequence. Inhalation of the odor given off by a loved person coming 

 to be a mark of affection for him or for her, it happens that since men 

 wish to be liked, and are pleased by display of liking, the performance 

 of this act which signifies liking initiates a complimentary observ- 

 ance, and gives rise to certain modes of showing respect. The Sa- 

 moans salute by "juxtaposition of noses, accompanied, not by a rub, 

 but a hearty smell. They shake and smell the hands also, espe- 

 cially of a superior." And there are like salutes among the Esqui- 

 maux and the New-Zealanders. 



The alliance between smell and taste being so close, we may natu- 

 rally expect a class of acts which arise from tasting, parallel to the 

 class of acts which smelling originates; and the expectation is ful- 

 filled. That the billing of doves or pigeons and the like action of 



