188 NATURE AND LIFE. 



ceived in the atmosphere. The scientific journals of the 

 day relate the account of a young American girl, a deaf- 

 mute, who recognized, by their odor alone, the plants of 

 the fields which she collected. Numerous instances, more- 

 over, prove that in savage races this sense is very greatly 

 more developed than among civilized men. It is a travel- 

 er's story, that some tribes of Indians can pursue their ene- 

 mies and animals of the chase by mere scent. 



But it is among the other mammals that we find the 

 sense of smell displayed in its highest degree of power and 

 perfection. Among ruminants, some pachyderms, and par- 

 ticularly among carnivorous mammals, the olfactory mem- 

 brane attains the keenest sensitiveness. Buffon has de- 

 scribed these animals with extreme exactness, in saying that 

 they smell farther than they see, and that they possess in 

 their scent an eye which sees objects not only where they 

 are, but even where they have been. The peculiarity of 

 of scent in the dog is too well known to need more than an 

 allusion. 



If we can hardly give faith to those ancient historians 

 who relate that vultures were attracted from Asia to the 

 fields of Pharsalia by the smell of the corpses heaped to- 

 gether there after a famous battle, yet we must accept the 

 assertions of naturalists so well qualified to observe as, for 

 instance, Alexander von Humboldt. The latter relates that 

 in Peru, and other countries of South America, when it is 

 intended to take condors, a horse or cow is killed, and that 

 in a short time the smell of the dead animal attracts a great 

 number of these birds, though none had before that been 

 seen in the country. Other more extraordinary facts are 

 told by travelers. These must usually be received only 

 with the greatest caution, because in most cases the sense of 

 smell gains credit for what is due to the sense of sight, 

 which, with these birds, is very keen and far-reaching. 

 Yet, making allowance for exaggeration, it must be admit- 



