192 THE SPECIAL SENSES. 



which have a strongly marked flavor. Accordingly, it is 

 far easier at this age to encourage the preference for plain 

 food, and thus establish healthful habits, than later in life 

 to uproot habits of indulgence in stimulating substances, 

 after their ill effects begin to manifest themselves. 



37. The tastes of men present the most singular diversi- 

 ties, partly the result of necessity and partly of habit or 

 education. The Esquimaux like the rank smell of whale 

 oil, which is a kind of food admirably suited to the require- 

 ments of their icy climate ; and travellers who go from our 

 climate to theirs are not slow to develop a liking for the 

 same articles that the natives themselves enjoy. The sense 

 of taste is rendered very acute by education, as is shown in 

 an especial manner by those who become professional 

 " tasters" of tea and wine. 



38. The Sense of Smell the Nasal Cavities. 

 The sense of smell is located in the delicate mucous 



membrane which lines the interior of the nose. That 

 prominent feature of the face, the nose, which is merely 

 the front boundary of the true nasal organ, is composed 

 partly of bone and partly of cartilage. The upper part of 

 it is united with the skull by means of a few small bones ; 

 to which circumstance is due its permanence of shape. 

 The lower portion, or tip of the nose, contains several thin 

 pieces of cartilage, which render it flexible and better able 

 to resist the effects of blows and pressure. Behind the 

 nose we find quite a spacious chamber, separated from 

 the mouth by the hard palate, forming the "roof of the 

 mouth," and by the soft palate (see Fig. 46) ; and divided 

 into two cavities by a central partition running from be- 

 fore backward. 



39. These nasal cavities, constituting the true beginning 

 of the air-passages, extend from the nose backward to the 



37. Diversity in tastes of men ? How shown ? The education of the sense of 

 taste ? 



38. Location of the sense of smell? The nose? " Roof of the month?" 



3 J). Cavities of the nose ? Obstruction of the passage of air through them ? 



