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ov. 23, it 



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SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



525 



truly say that we had a hard time of it. The snow and ice 

 were very heavy, and the weather was trying. For nearly 

 three weeks we were up at nearly 10,000 ft., and had a tem- 

 perature of — 40 degs. to — 50 degs. C. Only for four days 

 ...2 we snowbound. After all, we have to be thankful it 

 was not worse. After getting down from the inland ice on 

 the western coast, we had before us some ninety miles of 

 barren country, of which the half lay along a fjord. We tried 

 to cross here, but found it too hard work ; so we managed to 

 construct a kind of boat from the bottom of the tent and some 

 bags, and in that, after four days' rowing, Dr. Nansen and I 

 reached here, where we had the most cordial reception from 

 all the inhabitants of the colony. Two boats have now been 

 sent to the bottom of the fjord to fetch our comrades. The 

 regular vessel has long since left, but some 250 or 300 miles 

 further south there is supposed to be, at Ivigtut, a steamer 

 loading for Copenhagen, and we are now sending a kajak- 

 message in order to stop that steamer if possible. We have 

 but little hope of that, however, and are preparing to pass 

 the winter here. That may be very comfortable after all, but, 

 of course, we would prefer getting home. I must hurry up, 

 as we are now going to dine with the parson, and, in fact, 

 we have not had time for anything, as since arriving here we 

 have gone from one social party to another. You may see 

 from that how well we are off. I was the only one of our 

 whole party who got overall the tremendous fatigues without 

 the smallest ailment. I am, and have been all the time, as 

 fresh and sound as a fish. — With the kindest regards, etc. 



THE NEGLECTED SENSE. 



IF in ordinary modern life any one of our senses may 

 be pronounced useless, it is that of smell. Yet it 

 has capabilities which are quite overlooked, and which, 

 if systematically cultivated, might enable it to play a part 

 in the study of the natural sciences second to that of sight 

 alone. Hearing, however important it is as a means 

 of communication with our fellow-men, is almost out of 

 court in the exploration of natural phenomena. 



Of course the acuteness of smell in man is much less 

 highly developed than it is in certain of the lower animals. 

 Everyone is familiar with cases proving the wonderful 

 olfactory power of the dog, especially of the bloodhound. 

 But the faculty of scent in certain insects is inconceivably 

 more acute and delicate. This is especially the case with 

 moths. If a virgin female of certain species, e.g., Saturnia 

 carpini or Sphinx convolvuli, is shut up in a box, males 

 of the same species will come flying, even though the 

 nearest locality where they could have been concealed is 

 at the distance of nearly a mile, and though woods, emi- 

 nences, and houses may intervene. The emanations 

 from the female moth, of whatever nature they may be, 

 are evidently diffused through space and diluted with an 

 excessive quantity of air, which may be scentless or may 

 be saturated with other odours. Yet this infinitesimal 

 trace is sufficient to guide the male towards her with un- 

 failing accuracy. This is as if a human being were able 

 to detect the presence of an individual of his own species 

 at the distance, according to thelowest computation, of from 

 four to five miles. Did hounds possess such a sense 

 they would not search and snuff about for the track of 

 the fox, but would go at once in a straight line to the spot 

 where he might be lurking. 



Such feats we cannot hope to rival. We do not 

 possess the highly-developed olfactory nerve of the dog, 

 or the plume-like antennae of Saturnia carpini. But even 

 among mankind the sense of smell reaches a degree of 

 delicacy which is to other persons scarcely credible. The 

 aborigines of Peru, Chili, and other parts of South 



America can, in the darkest night and in the thickest 

 woods, distinguish respectively a white man, a negro, 

 and one of their own kindred by the smell. They have 

 in their own language words to express the differences 

 — words which, of course, cannot be rendered into any 

 European tongue. But our defective power of smell, as 

 compared with that of such semi-savages, is due not to 

 any natural deficiency on our part, but to our manner of 

 living. The writer feelsjustified in making this assertion 

 from an instance which came under his own observation. 

 A lady who had suffered long and severely from neuralgia 

 was at last advised to renounce tea and coffee, all hot 

 liquids, all spices, condiments, and everything else of 

 an irritating or stimulating nature. She carried out this 

 advice, and her power of smell became quite a wonder 

 to all her acquaintances. Her judgment on the purity of 

 a water supply became more than analytical in its 

 accuracy and delicacy. 



Here, then, lies the secret. She lived as far as foods 

 and drinks are concerned, like the native Peruvians, and 

 if she did not quite equal them in the nicety of her sense 

 of smell, it was because in her earlier life she had been 

 in the habit of using mustard, pepper, hot tea, and the 

 like. It is, therefore, very probable that a similar style 

 of living would in all persons very much improve this 



Saturnia Carpini. 



neglected sense. Even at present, according to a para- 

 graph from Liebig's Annallen quoted in our number for 

 July, 1887, our smell is more delicate than our eye-sight. 

 No little admiration has, for instance, been excited by 

 the delicacy of the spectroscope. We all know how, by 

 means of this instrument, extremely minute portions of 

 various chemicals — far too small to respond to any other 

 test — may be made clearly evident to our sight. Of these 

 spectroscopic indications the most delicate of all is the 

 yellow band which appears when a trace of the metal 

 sodium is burnt in a gas-flame or in an electric spark 

 (see articles on the spectrum in our numbers for June, 

 July, and August, 1887). But without the aid of any 

 instrument, and without any previous training, the human 

 nose is capable of detecting quantities of certain substances 

 thirty times smaller. It is possible to recognise by 

 smell TTjjo^xro-uo" °f a milligramme of mercaptan, and as 

 a milligramme is only the o"oi54th of an English troy 

 grain we have here a degree of delicacy of which it is 

 hard to form any definite idea ! 



There is another circumstance which gives additional 

 value to scent-indications. Although we have no names 

 for different smells and can merely describe them by 

 comparisons, they fix themselves in the mind far more 

 permanently than the impressions of the other senses. 

 If we have once met with any particular odour, we 

 recognise it years after, even though we may never have 

 come across it in the interim. 



Of this we have a remarkable instance in our personal 



