1258 



THE SENSE OF SMELL. 



the substances taken into the mouth by the nerves of common 

 sensibility ; and our experience leads us therefore to associate taste 

 with the direct application of certain bodies to the surface of the 

 tongue. Most of these bodies are scented, and the odorous particles 

 they give off affect the olfactory mucous membrane at much the same 

 time as the substances reach the mouth. We do not, of course, know 

 that the odorous particles are within the nose, and we associate there- 

 fore the sensation, which is really a combined olfactory and gustatory 

 sensation, with the presence of the substance within the mouth, and we 

 conclude that our sensation is one of taste. Thus we say we taste 

 fruit, meat, etc., although the olfactory component of the sensation is 

 really the greater one of the two ; we project our olfactory sensation 

 into our mouth. In the case of odorous bodies which are not eaten, 

 like the rose, our experience leads us to associate our sensations with 

 the object itself, generally felt and seen just in front of us. The odorous 

 particles which proceed from the rose do not excite the nerves of 

 common sensibility ; and the fact which localises their actions as stimuli 

 to the sensory surface of the nose is the experience that the scent is 

 best felt when air is voluntarily sniffed through it. In most cases, 

 therefore, we project our sensations outside the body, and this is ex- 

 pressed by the saying that " the rose smells." Persons who pay any 

 close attention to their sensations, and are accustomed to detect odours 

 by sniffing with their eyes closed, are conscious of the sensation, as 

 something connected with the interior of the nose ; and in their cases 

 they can hardly be said to project their sensations. 1 



1 As works of further reference, the reader is referred to Zwaarderaaker's book, "Die 

 Physiol, des Geruchs," Leipzig, 1895 ; and "Physiol, des Nase und ihrer Nebenhohlen," 

 by Justus Gaule, Wien, 1896. The older references will be found in v. Vintschgau's 

 article in Hermann's "Handbuch," Bd. iii. Th. 2, S. 225. 



