It must be remarked, in the first place, that in man, as well as animals, the sense of smelling is placed very near the sense of taste and the organs of eating. We may, therefore, infer that smelling is a guide to us in the choice of food; that what is of a good flavor, in general, is wholesome, and that what is of an offensive smell is unwholesome. The fact, doubtless, is, that we abuse the sense of smelling so much by the artificial tastes we cultivate, by eating spices and pickles, and a great variety of condiments, that it ceases to aid us as much as nature intended it should. Brutes, who never eat cooked dishes, composed of twenty different ingredients, have not their senses thus blunted and corrupted. The cow, the sheep, the horse, all are guided, as they graze among a thousand kinds of herbs, by the certain and effectual power of smell, to choose those which are wholesome, and to reject those which are hurtful. Now if mankind were as natural and simple in their habits as these animals, no doubt the sense of smell would be a good counsellor as to what food is good and what is bad. There is one very curious thing to be noticed here, which is, that what is pleasant to one is offensive to another. Now putrid meat is wholesome to a dog; it sets well upon his stomach; and accordingly it smells good to him. But such food would produce disease in man; and to him the smell of it is loathsome. This shows, very clearly, that the sense of smell is a kind of adviser to tell creatures how to select their food. It also induces us to avoid places where the air is tainted or impure; for we are liable to contract diseases in such an atmosphere. Thus it is obvious that the sense of smelling is important not only as a guide to health, but as a guardian against disease and death. In many animals the sense of smell is very acute. The dog will trace his master’s footsteps, by the scent alone, through the streets of a city, and amid a thousand other footsteps; he will follow the track of the fox, or the hare, or the bird, for hours after it has passed along. The vulture scents the carrion for miles; and the wolf, the hyæna, and the jackal, seem to possess a similar acuteness of scent. While the sense of smell is thus sharp in some animals, others, which need it less, possess it in an inferior degree. Fishes have only a simple cavity on each side of the nose, through which water, impregnated with odors, flows, and communicates the sensation of smell. Many of the inferior animals, as worms, reptiles, and insects, have still less perfect organs of sensation, and probably possess the sense of smell only to a corresponding extent. Sketches of the Manners, Customs, &c., of the Indians of America. CHAPTER XVI.