OP SMELL. 161 



with the sensorium and internal senses, nor possesses 

 such influence over them, as the sense of smell.* 



No other is so liable to idiosyncrasies, nor so power- 

 ful in exciting and removing syncope. 



Nor is any other capable of receiving more de- 

 licate and delightful impressions; for which reason, 

 Rousseau very aptly called smell, the sense of imagi- 

 nation, f 



No sensations can be remembered in so lively a 

 manner as those which are recalled by peculiar odors. J 



NOTE. 



An odor must, to be smelt, pass through the nostrils with a 

 stream of air: — a large bottle of ammonia may be kept under 

 the nose for any length of time without affecting it, although 

 the ammonia is all the time flying off. § Odorous substances 

 placed in the mouth and a very foetid secretion in the nose or 

 mouth are perceived only when the air is moving through the 

 nostrils and give a stronger impression the more forcibly the air 

 is impelled. 



External odors are smelt only when the air passes through 

 the nostrils from without: — after smelling a substance in the 

 usual manner, we in vain attempt to catch the odor a second 

 time by returning the stream of air out again through the nostrils. 



* See Alibert on the Medical power of odors, Mim. de la Soc, Medicate. 

 T. i. p. 44. 



t Emile. T. i. p. 367. 



J Respecting the power of smell over morals and propensities, consult 

 Benj. Rush's Medical Inquiries and Observations. Vol. ii. p. 34. 



§ Sapid bodies are faintly tasted unless moved along the tongue. 

 M 



