ORGANS OF SMELL. 208 



within, and of the absence of which, not one of his sen- 

 ses, it appears, was able to inform him. 



Finding that his efforts after a long trial, led to no 

 satisfactory results, and that nothing could be obtained 

 but a bundle of hay, the bird took its flight in search of 

 other game ; " to which," says the observer, "he was led 

 by sight alone, and which he was not long in finding." 



Another experiment, the converse of this was next 

 tried. A large dead hog was concealed in a narrow and 

 winding ravine, about twenty feet deeper than the sur- 

 face of the earth around it, and filled with briars and 

 high canes. This was done in the month of July in a 

 tropical climate, where decomposition took place rapid- 

 ly. Yet although many vultures were seen, from time 

 to time sailing in all directions over the spot, none ever 

 discovered it ; but in the mean time, several dogs had 

 found their way to it, before which, it was fast disap- 

 pearing. 



In other experiments Mr. Audubon found that young 

 vultures confined in a cage, never seemed to perceive 

 that their food was near them, until it was seen. 



It therefore appears that vultures are guided to their 

 food by the acuteness of their visual, and not by their 

 olfactory organs, as has heretofore been supposed. 



The above results have been fully verrified by Mr. 

 Bachman, and a detailed account thereof published in 

 Loudon's Magazine of Natural History. 



Organs of Smell in Fishes. It has been doubted by 

 some physiologists whether water is capable of convey- 

 ing odoriferous particles, and consequently, whether fish 

 had any use for olfactory organs. But almost every 

 angler knows that at least, with some sorts of fish, he 

 has much better luck when his bait is scented with some 

 strong odoriferous drugs,, as assafcetida, musk, or cam- 

 phor. It is well known, indeed, both by other experi- 

 ments, as well as by dissection, that fishes are endowed 

 with organs of smell. 



What were the results of Audubon's experiments on the smell of vul- 

 tures 1 What is said of the organs of smell in fishes 1 



