521 
1882.1 and their Recognition. 
less formidable animals can only be approached from the 
lee side. Even in regions so solitary that the wild animals 
can have no acquaintance with man’s peculiar effluvium, 
further than as a something unusual and inexplicable, they 
still take the alarm. Hence the hunter generally finds it 
necessary to proceed against the wind when in quest of his 
game. 
This simple principle, the uneasiness caused by an un- 
familiar odour, may serve to explain some fadts which are 
very commonly put forward as manifestations of a mysterious 
“instindt.” Thus in laying traps, poison, &c., for wild 
beasts and vermin, from the tiger and the wolverine down to 
the rat, the objects in question retain a smell of the human 
person. The intended vidtim, on approaching, recognises at 
once that he is in the presence of a something unknown, and 
he avoids the bait accordingly, or tries how he may obtain it 
without putting himself in peril. 
Another very similar case is found in the felicity, if I may 
use the expression, shown by herbivorous animals in avoiding 
poisonous plants. Take an ox, a sheep, or a goat to a 
country where the flora is strange ; he will browse upon 
plants analogous in odour with those which have formed his 
diet in his native country. But whenever he perceives a 
strange effluvium given off he avoids the plant as doubtful. 
The same mistrust of an unusual odour has been magnified 
in the following case into a mysterious instindt : — The 
authorities of the Jardin des Plantes, finding themselves 
overstocked with bears, resolved to get rid of one by poison, 
and for this purpose gave the destined vidtim a bun upon 
which some prussic acid had been poured. The bear, noticing 
the unusual smell, immediately pushed the bun into the 
water, and let it wash till the obnoxious odour had disap- 
peared. There is not the least reason to suppose that Bruin 
had an instindtive knowledge of the effedts of prussic acid, if 
swallowed. 
All this will seem to us much more likely if we refledt 
that nearly all mammalian species far surpass us in the 
sensitiveness of their scent-organs. Besides this, they do 
not blunt these organs by the use of irritating condiments 
and so-called “ strong ” drinks. What a difference may thus 
be produced, in the sensitiveness both of smell and taste, I 
had once an opportunity of noticing in the case of a lady, 
who, having been for some years a sufferer from neuralgia, 
was advised to renounce all hot liquids and all pungent con- 
diments, such as mustard, pepper, &c. After long perse- 
verance in this regimen she acquired a delicacy both of 
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