>40 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 249 



method of coming at a rough-and-ready conclusion regarding the 

 size of men, than the one which I have adopted. 



This subject has interested me from the standpoint of better 

 nutrition. ' It will be observed that the American man is decidedly 

 gaining in size and weight. If this has happened during twenty 

 years of the American frying-pan, dyspeptic bread, pale pie, and 

 •cooking in general under the supervision of cooks who were sent 

 from the wrong place where the meat did not come from, what 

 may be expected -when the American woman learns how to cook ? 

 Cannot some one obtain data for comparison with these sizes from 

 the statistics of military recruits and conscripts in Europe, or 

 from the contractors for army clothing ? 



Edward Atkinson. 



Boston, Nov. j. 



The Sense of Smell. 



It is quite customary, when treating of the senses, to speak 

 slightingly of smell and taste, as if they were of little importance in 

 the economy of life. When the subject of training the senses is 

 under consideration, little is ever said of training the nose, while 

 much space is devoted to educating the eye, the ear, and the hand. 

 It is certainly true that smell does not rank with sight and hear- 

 ing, and demands less care, perhaps, for its cultivation ; and yet it 

 plays an important role, and should receive its due share of atten- 

 tion in any scheme of education. 



The function of smell is fourfold. Like the higher senses, it be- 

 longs to the intellectual endowments. It is a part of the mind. 

 Through it the mind is reached, roused, and quickened. The per- 

 cepts and concepts gained through the sense of smell can be named, 

 described, analyzed, compared, and classified. They may thus be- 

 come the means of a good degree of intellectual life. Smell is a 

 source of knowledge. Through it the mind discerns those quali- 

 ties in things which we denominate odor. This knowledge it can 

 obtain in no other way. A surprisingly large number of objects 

 have their own peculiar odor. The onion, the carrot, the beet, and 

 all other vegetables have characteristic odors ; so have fruits, 

 flowers, spices, and many gases, as well as animals, meats, etc. 

 The knowledge of the kind, quality, and condition of things that can 

 be obtained by the sense of smell, is very extensive. Not only the 

 druggist, the chemist, the cook, but others likewise, make much 

 practical use of the nose as a source of knowledge, having its own 

 special scientific interest. But smell does a highly important work 

 in enabling us to detect foul, hurtful odors. The nose is placed at 

 the entrance to the mouth as a sentinel to guard it from receiving 

 unwholesome food. It is the watch-dog of the stomach. A fourth, 

 scarcely less important function of smell is that of giving pleasure. 

 The nose is capable of ministering to our happiness even more, 

 perhaps, than the touch or the taste. One with a cultivated nose 

 has delights that another knows not. 



There is even a greater need for some systematic training of the 

 sense of smell than of the so-called higher senses. The ordinary 

 experiences of life and the regular work of the school-room neces- 

 sarily give to the eye, ear, and mind considerable exercise ; while 

 the smell is called into use much less frequently out of school, and 

 scarcely at all in school. Besides, the words expressive of smell 

 percepts and concepts are far less numerous and exact than corre- 

 sponding words for sight and hearing ; so that the training incident 

 to the use of language is likely to be far less extensive and accurate 

 in the case of the nose than in that of the eye, ear, and hand. Add 

 to this the low estimate generally placed upon the sense of smell, 

 and the popular indifference to its training, as shown in the fact, 

 that, while we have elaborate schemes for training the eye in knowl- 

 edge of form and color, we have practically none for training the 

 nose in the performance of its proper functions, and we may chal- 

 lenge for this useful member the sympathy and interest due to neg- 

 lected merit and overlooked modesty. 



In every primary school there should be some special attention 

 paid to the education of this sense. This should aim to secure, 

 first, the frequent exercise of the sense until it acquires strength 

 proportionate to its duties. It should not be overworked, nor called 

 into undue prominence, but should receive its proper share of at- 

 tention till it acquires both strength and sensitiveness. Second, the 

 training should be such as to develop a high power of discrimi- 



nation, so that the pupil can discern quickly and accurately the dif- 

 ferent odors that are presented. Third, the growth in discrimi- 

 native power should be accompanied pari passu with language. 

 Each distinct odor should be named, and the closest association 

 should be created between the idea and the word, so that the one 

 shall recall the other. The pupil should be exercised in analyzing 

 complex odors, so as to be able to detect the presence of different 

 substances in the same compound. He should be instructed in 

 noxious smells, which indicate the presence of harmful substances, 

 and should have some knowledge of the disagreeable odors, their 

 origin, and the method of their removal. 



Boys might receive a little special training as a preparation for 

 laboratory or scientific work, and girls be instructed in view of their 

 possible duties as cooks or housekeepers. A few very simple prin- 

 ciples suffice for suggesting a plan of carrying this scheme into 

 effect. The work should be begun in the primary grades. This is 

 a period of sense-activity, when the child is being aroused to men- 

 tal Ufe through sense-perception, acquainting itself with the sense- 

 qualities of the universe, and storing up ideas for future use. If the 

 senses are neglected at this period, the opportunity for training 

 them may never return. At first the work should be simple, mak- 

 ing very light demands upon the sense. A few common fruits, 

 flowers, and spices or gums may be used, with a view of forming a 

 sharp discrimination, quick recognition, and accurate naming. The 

 drill exercises should be very brief, aiming at thoroughness rather 

 than multiplicity, and may be alternated with lessons in form, color, 

 place, number, etc. The lessons should be graded so as to increase 

 in difficulty, and should be so systematized as to secure the fourfold 

 end of varied activity, knowledge, health, and pleasure. Each step 

 forward in sense-discrimination should be accompanied with drill in 

 oral and written language. For ordinary purposes it will be suffi- 

 cient to make the child well acquainted with perhaps one hundred 

 distinct odors, separate and in combination ; and these for the most 

 part should be of those things a knowledge of which will be of most 

 service in daily life. 



When the sense has been properly trained in childhood, and a 

 habit of wise use established, the pupil will be able to call it into 

 exercise on all needful occasions, and, on the basis of this general 

 culture, can, if need be, secure a highly specialized development of 

 the sense, meeting all the requirements of extraordinary occasions. 



Thomas J. Morgan. 



Providence, R.I., Nov. 3. 



Answrers. 



15. Is THE Trumpet-Creeper Poisonous ? — The belief is gen- 

 eral in many parts of the South and South-west that both the trum- 

 pet-creeper and the Virginia creeper {Ampelopsis quiiiquefolia') are 

 poisonous. I have always acted upon the opinion that this belief is 

 as unfounded in the one case as in the other. A little experience 

 of the poisonous Rhus will make an ignorant person afraid of every 

 vine found growing in the woods. John C. Branner. 



Little Roclt, Ark., Oct, 31. 



15. Is THE Trumpet-Creeper Poisonous? — No. This is 

 Tecoma radicans, and climbs trees, posts, walls, etc., by means of 

 thousands of rootlets. It is trained around many verandas and 

 about door-yards for ornament. No one was ever poisoned by it. 

 It has been often mistaken for Rhus radicans of Linnsus (the 

 climbing variety of R. toxicodendron), which also climbs by means 

 of thousands of rootlets. The stems of the two cHnging to trees 

 resemble each other very much. I have had many cases of Rhus- 

 poisoning, but never heard of any thing being poisoned by the Te- 

 coma. Many times when persons have exclaimed in alarm, " That 

 is poison-vine, don't touch it ! " I have, to their consternation, 

 seized the leaves of Tecoma, rubbed them over my face and hands, 

 and even chewed them. With sixty years of daily intimacy with 

 these plants, I feel justified in these statements. D. L. Phares. 



Agricultural College P.O., Miss., Nov. 5. 



16. The Archbald pot-holes were described by Dr. John C. Bran- 

 ner in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 

 xxiii., pp. 353-357 (read Feb. 19, 1887), and Mr. Charles A. Ash- 

 burner in the ' Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Geological Sur- 

 vey for 1885,' pp. 615-626. Charles S. Prosser. 



Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y., Nov. 7. 



