Sense of Taste. 109 
perceptions so far transcend those of man in sensibility and 
discrimination. , 
- The intimate physiological association of the sense of taste 
with that of smell renders it uncertain, in some instances, 
which of the two is in operation at any given moment. 
Everyone, however, must have noticed the extreme fastidious- 
ness of taste in the dog, and there can be no doubt of 
his power of detecting minute quantities of substances 
which are disagreeable to him. I have experimented with 
various substances, both harmless and more or less dan- 
gerous, and have invariably found him capable of discovering 
their presence, even when diluted to an extreme degree, 
and when the human palate was unable to detect any trace 
of the substance. One day in the summer I took Carlo II. 
and his companion, Hector, my second retriever, for a long 
walk, and on their return, when suffermg much from 
thirst, dropped ten drops of ordinary Kinahan’s whisky into 
their basin containing a quart of fresh water, and secured 
the thorough mixture of the spirit by agitating the water 
for some time. On placing the vessel on the floor they both 
made a rush at it, took a few eager laps, and turned away 
in disgust. No coaxing availed to persuade them to touch 
it again. I then emptied the basin, rinsed it out, filled it 
with fresh water, and placed it before them. They clearly 
understood that some change had been effected—for I was 
in the habit of replenishing it when it had stood some hours 
and become a little stale—and approached it, though some- 
what suspiciously, and, after tasting it, and being satisfied 
of its purity, took a hearty drink. Thus, it appeared, they 
were able to detect the presence of the spirit in so minute a 
proportion as about one drop to a thousand. I have tried various 
essential oils, petroleum, Condy’s Fluid, &c., with much the 
same results, but the degrees of perception have varied. 
Carbolic acid seems to be specially objectionable. Neither 
beef tea nor strong meat broth suffices to mask the peculiar 
flavour of that acid. Even so negative a substance as a 
