S M E 



fizc of the pelvis, and of the head of the fcetus, and com- 

 paring their proportions, and the true pofition of the fcetus 

 in utero, pointed out clearly the whole progrefs of the 

 child during parturition : and his opinions were fubfequently 

 confirmed, efpecially by Dr. Hunter, from obfervations 

 made after death, where parturition had not been completed. 

 The improvement which he made in the forceps, which has 

 fince been univerfally adopted, is well known, and he taught 

 the prefent manual mode of ufing them. He aboliflied 

 many fuperftitious notions and erroneous cuftoms that pre- 

 vailed in the management of parturient women and of the 

 children ; and he had the fatisfaftion to fee the greater part 

 of his maxims adopted, not only in this ifland, but by 

 many of the moft refpeftable praftitioners in Europe. 



In the year 1752, he piiblilhed the fubitance of his lec- 

 tures, in the improvement and correftion of which he affirms, 

 that he had fpent fix years, in one volume 8vo., under 

 the title of " A Treatife on Midwifery ;" to which, in 

 1754, he added a fecond volume of cafes, intended to 

 illullrat'e the precepts laid down in the former. An ad- 

 ditional volume of cafes, which he promifed in his pre- 

 face, did not appear till about five years after his death, 

 in 17 68. The whole formed the moll complete fyftem of 

 the art of midwifery, which had then appeared, and 

 was regarded as the beit authority : it was, in faft, the 

 refult of an extenfive experience of forty years, and 

 contained a very comprehenfive view of the various cir- 

 cumftances that ufiially occur, with inftruftions refpefting 

 the beft rieans of obviating them. In 1754, Dr. Smelhe 

 likewife publiihed jI fet of anatomical plates, of a large 

 folio fize, and thirty-fix in number, which were intended 

 farther to elucidate the doftrines of his leftures. In eleven 

 of ihefe he acknowledges the affiftance of the late profelTor 

 Cowper. Like other ingenious men of original charafter. 

 Dr. Smellie was affailed by fome critics and opponents, efpe- 

 cially by Dr. Burton of York, and by Dr. W. Douglas, 

 with great acrimony ; but he ever maintained the charafter 

 of a man of ingenuity and judgment ; he was remarkably 

 candid and modelt in his demeanour, and upright and difinte- 

 relled in all his concerns. His reputation and fuccefs were 

 the refult of his merit alone ; for his awkwardnefs of per- 

 fon and unpoliflied manners prevented him from rifing to 

 the higheft line of praftice ; but he was much eileemed by 

 his pupils, and by thofe who employed him. He ultimately 

 retired to Lanark, where he fpent the latter years of his 

 life, and died in 1763, at an advanced age. Hutchinfon 

 Med. Biog. Gen. Biog. 



SMELLING, the aft whereby we perceive fmells, or 

 by which we become icnfible of odorous bodies, by means 

 of certain effluvia, which, llriking on the olfaftory organ, 

 brifldy enough to have their impulfe propagated to the brain, 

 excite a fcnfation of the foul. 



Ttie principal organs of fmelling are the nollrils and the 

 olfaftory nerves ; the minute ramifications of which latter 

 are diftributed throughout the whole concave of the former. 

 See NcsE. 



Smelling is performed by the odorous effluvia, floating in 

 the air, being drawn into the noftrile, in infpiration, andflruck 

 with fucli force againlt the fibrilla: of the olfactory nerves, 

 which the figure of the nofe, and the fituation of the little 

 bones, render oppofite thereto, as to fhake them, and give 

 them a vibratory motion ; which aftion, being communi- 

 cated hence to the common fenfory, occafions an idea of a 

 fweet, or fetid, or four, or an aromatic, or a putrefied 

 objeft, &c. 



The matter in animals, vegetables, fodilv, Sccwhichchiefly 

 affcft the fcnfe of fmelling, Boerhaave obfcrves, ie that 



S M E 



fubtiie (ubttance, inherent in the oily parts of them, called 

 fptrits : becaufe, when this is taken away from the molt fra- 

 grant bodies, what remains has fcarcely any fmell at all; but 

 this, poured on the moft inodorous bodies, gives them a 

 fragrancy. 



Willis obferves, that brutes have, generally, the fenfe oi 

 imelling in much greater perfeftion than man ; as by this 

 alone, they dillinguilh the virtues and qualities of bodies un- 

 known before ; hunt out their food at a great dillance, as 

 hounds and birds of prey ; or hid among other fubllances, 

 as ducks, &c. 



Man, having other means of judging of his fof J, &c. 

 did not need fo much fagacity in his r.jfe ; yet have we 

 inltances of a very conCderable degree of it, even in man. 

 In the Hiftoire des Antilles, we are allured, there are 

 Negroes, who, by the fmeUing alone, can diltinguilh be- 

 tween the footfteps of a Frenchman and a Negro. 



It is foiand that the laminx, with which the upper part 

 of the noftrils is fenced, and which ferve to receive the 

 divarications of the olfaftory nerves, are alw.'iys longer, and 

 folded up together in greater numbers, as the animal has 

 this fenfe more accurate : the various windings and turnino-s 

 of thefe lamins detain and fetter more of the odoriferous 

 particles. 



The fenfe of fmelling may be diminilhed or deftroyed by 

 difeafes ; as the moilture, drynefs, inflammation or fuppu- 

 ration of the olfaftory membrane, the compreflion of the 

 nerves which fupply it, or fome fault in the brain itfelf at 

 their origin. A defeft, or too great a degree of folidity 

 of the fmall fpungy bones of the upper jaw, the caverns of 

 the forehead, &c. may likewife impair this ienfe ; and it 

 may be alfo injured by a coUeftion of fetid matter in thefe 

 caverns, which is continually exhaling from them, and alfo 

 by immoderate ufe of fnufF. When the nofe abounds with 

 moifture, after gentle evacuations, fuch things as tend to 

 take off irritation, and coagulate the thin fliarp ferum, may 

 be applied, as the oil of anife, mixed with fine flour, cam- 

 phor difl'olved in oil of almonds. Sec. the vapours of amber, 

 frankincenfe, gum-maftic, and benjamin, may likewife be 

 received into the nofe and mouth. For moiltening the 

 mucus when it is too dry, fome recommend fnufF made of 

 the leaves of marjoram, mixed with oil of amber, marjoram, 

 and anifeed ; or a Iternutatory of calcined white vitriol, 

 twelve grains of which may be mixed with two ounces of 

 marjoram water, and filtrated. The ileam of vinegar upon 

 hot iron, and received up the noitrils, is alfo of ulc for 

 foftening the mucus, removing obitruftions, &c. If tliere 

 be an ulcer in the nofe, it ought to be drcffed with fome 

 emollient ointment, to which, if the pain be very great, 

 a little laudanum may be added. If it be a venereal ulcer, 

 twelve grains of corrofive fublimate may be diflolved in a 

 pint and a half of brandy, and a table-fpoonful of it taken 

 twice a-day. The ulcer ought likewife to be waflied 

 with it, and the fumes of cinnabar may be received up the 

 noflrils. 



If there be reafon to fufpcft that tlic nerves, which fup. 

 ply the organs of fmelling, are inert, or want Simulating, 

 volatile falts, or Itrong fnufl^s, and other things, which oc- 

 cafion fneezing, may be applied to the nofe ; the forehead 

 may likewife be anointed with baliam of Peru, to which 

 may be added a little oil of amber. See Brain, Lii-i;, and 

 Nkuvous Syjltm. 



SMELNITZ, or SzoMOLNOK, in Geography, a town of 

 Hungary ; 14 miles S. of Kapfdorf. 



SMEl/r, jlpua Phalfrica, or Sahno Eperlanut of Lin- 

 nxus, in Ichthyology, a filh which is clafled, by the gene- 

 rality ol writera, among tlie truttaceous kinds, and is ac- 

 Z 2 knowledged 



