INFLUENCE ON THE HUMAN SYSTEM. 107 



Instinctively he no sooner imbibes the vapour 

 than he pours it forth again in a stream athwart 

 his nostrils, -where, together with oxygen, it 

 stimulates the olfactory nerve, which, in my 

 opinion, produces the beneficial effects of tobacco 

 ascribed to it by all its votaries. This nerve — 

 the olfactory — rests against the under surface of 

 the anterior lobe of the brain, being lodged in 

 the narrow interval between two convolutions, 

 and retained in its place by the arachnoid mem- 

 brane ; its branches are transmitted through 

 numerous foramina in the cribriform plate, to be 

 distributed to the raucous membrane of the nose. 

 The stimulus is thus immediately communicated 

 to that portion of the brain which requires the 

 invigorating action of oxygen for its intellectual 

 manifestations. The larger the surface of the 

 mucous membrane of the nose the greater the 

 activity of the intellect or the anterior lobe of the 

 brain ; and without a well-developed nasal organ 

 there never was a well-developed intellect. The 

 nose of genius, in every age, has been conspicu- 

 ous — in every sphere of its numerous manifesta- 

 tions. Perhaps I should rather say that its size 



