JAN & J IU 
INT HRODUCT TO Ne 
No EXTERNAL sense is so intimately connected with the internal 
sense of perception as that of smell, and none are more capable of 
receiving such delicate impressions. No sensation can be remem- 
bered in so lively a manner as those which are recalled by peculiar 
odours, which are frequently known to excite our emotion to a 
degree which influences our physical and moral propensities. 
Truly, the memories of the past, fond or sad, are recalled to sen- 
sitive minds by music, but not so keenly as by some particular 
perfume—possibly because the bulk of humanity is deficient 
(morally or physically) m the power of appreciating musical har- 
mony. The idea of the harmony of musical tones can be conveyed 
from one mind to another by printed characters, although the 
poetry or soul of it cannot be conveyed to a mind unconstituted 
for its reception, but it is impossible to convey in any way what- 
ever the idea of an odour, perfume, or flavour, except by com- 
parison. 
The acuteness of the sensation of smell in animals is marvellous. 
The distance at which a dog tracks his master is scarcely credible. 
Birds of prey scent the battle-field at prodigious distances. Pliny 
even affirms that crows have so acute a sense of approaching corrup- 
tion, that they can scent death three days before actual dissolution, 
and sometimes pay the moribund a visit before lis time to avoid 
disappomtment. This may have originated a superstition existing 
in most countries, that such a visit forebodes death. 
The sense of smell is probably the leading sensorial endowment 
