172 MODERN TRAINING. 



differ in their attitudes on point in any respect. The gen- 

 eral characteristics of the act are precisely the same in both, 

 the only difference being in the peculiarities of individuals, 

 no two assuming precisely the same attitude, in the same 

 sense that no two run or walk precisely alike. 



As the exercise of the instinct is dependent, in a great 

 measure, on the powers of smell, it is not strange that cer- 

 tain external appearances of the nose have come to be 

 considered an indication of the degree of those powers. 

 Many sportsmen and authors attach undue importance to 

 wide, expansive nostrils, inferring very plausibly that such 

 must give a corresponding increase in the scenting powers. 

 This assumption is not founded on any tangible physio- 

 logical data. With respect to the functional powers of the 

 nose, a wide or close nostril is not of the slightest impor- 

 tance. In practice, no difference which could be ascribed 

 to its external form is observable in the average scenting 

 powers of large numbers of individuals. Every experienced 

 sportsman has seen dogs having light, snipy, contracted 

 noses, yet possessing exquisite delicacy of scent, and dogs 

 having expansive nostrils which had dull scenting powers. 

 The dogs which have the imaginary broad, expansive nos- 

 trils are rare indeed. The anatomical structure of the nose 

 indicates that the exterior form is of no functional impor- 

 tance. The inner recesses have a very extensive, irregular 

 surface of mucous membrane, which much increases its 

 capacity of sensation. The olfactory nerves are therein 

 widely and intricately distributed, yet comparatively few of 

 them reach to the end of the nostril, although it has keen 

 tactile sensibility. Undoubtedly the functional powers of 

 the nose depend on the abundance and delicacy of the 

 olfactory nerve plexus, therefore not on the size of the ends 

 of the nostrils. It would be quite as reasonable to assume 

 that the senses of taste, hearing and seeing are dependent 

 on the external size of the mouth, ears or eyes. 



