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 thanan 
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- 


