164 



ON THE PROCESSES OF 



lachrymal, mucous, which are denominated from the former character, and 

 apply to the smallest and simplest of them ; conglobate, which are of a 

 larger form, and of an intricate convolution, and belong exclusively to the 

 absorbent system, — as the mysenteric and lumbar ; and glomerate and 

 conglomerate, which are composed of a congeries of sanguineous vessels, 

 without any cavity, but with one or more mouths, or excretory ducts as 

 they are called, which, in the latter, open into one common trunk, — as 

 the mammary and pancreatic ; both which kinds are denominated from 

 the character of their structure. ^ 



It is by this peculiar organization in animals and plants that all those nice 

 and infinitely varying exhalations or other fluids are thrown forth from 

 different parts of them, by which such parts, or the whole individual, or 

 the entire species of individuals, are respectively characterized. Our own 

 senses are too dull to trace a discharge of any kind of essence or vapour 

 from the surface of the human skin in its ordinary action ; but the disco- 

 loration which soon takes place upon the purest linen, when worn in the 

 purest atmosphere, sufficiently proves the existence of such an efflux ; 

 and there are various animals whose olfactory organs are much acuter * 

 than our own, as our domestic dogs, for example, that are able to discern 

 a difference in the odour of the vapour which issues from the skin of every 

 individual, and that in fact identify their respective masters, and distin- 

 guish them from other individuals by this character alone. 



It is to this sense chiefly that quadrupeds, birds, fishes, and most insect 

 tribes trust themselves, in their search after food ; and hence the superior 

 acuteness of this power in animals of such kinds, is a strong proof of 

 that unerring wisdom which regulates the world, and is equally conspicu- 

 ous in every part of it. Under peculiar circumstances, however, the 

 sense of smell appears to be far more lively among mankind than when 

 such circumstances do not exist. M. Virey, who has written a very learn- 

 ed treatise upon this subject, asserts, that it occurs among savages in a 

 far higher degree of activity than among civilized nations, whose olfac- 

 tory nerves are blunted by an hatjitual exposure to strong odours, or intri- | 

 cate combination of odours, and by the use of high-flavoured foods. And I 

 among persons in a keen morbid state of irritabihty it has been often I 

 found, even in civilized fife, much sharper than among savages. The 

 Journal des Scavans, an. 1667, gives a curious history of a monk, who 

 was said to be able to ascertain, by the difference of odour alone, the sex 

 and age of a person, whether he were married or single, and the manner | 

 of life to which he was accustomed.* | 



When the exhalation from the human skin is increased by muscular ex- | 

 ercise, or any other exertion, it is rendered visible ; and in this state it is | 

 generally found to combine with it a certain portion of dissolved animal i 

 oil or fat. Even without much increased action of the system, it is pos- f 

 sible at times to obtain a knowledge of its existence under particular cir- 

 cumstances, or by particular applications. Thus, in cold subterraneous " 

 caverns, where the air is dense and heavy, the natural evaporation often 

 escapes from the surface of the body in the form of thick clouds ; and a 

 bright mirror, when held near a warm and naked skin, in the temperature 

 of the atmosphere, soon becomes obscured by a moist vapour. 



. * In a paper on the Petiveria, in the Swedish Academy Transactions, there are ;» variety 

 of curious observations on the peculiar properties given to the smell, flesh, &c. of different 

 animals, in consequence of their feeding on different foodir. It is entitled Petiveria. elt 

 Americansk vaxt. Anal, Trans, torn. U p. 346. 



