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Prelude to Chapter IX.
Modern science confirms Aristotle's judgment concerning the nature of odour, for it is said "to be a curious and interesting problem, requiring much more investigation than it has hitherto received;" and, according
to Cuvier[1], "of all the substances which act upon our senses, those which produce the sensation of smell are the least known, although their impression has the liveliest and deepest influence upon our economy." But the reason assigned in the text for this relative imperfection of our smell is indefinite and questionable; for "although man's nostrils are less complicated than those of any animals save the quadrumana, he is the only creature whose smell is fine enough to be affected by unpleasant odours" It may be doubted, besides, whether any sensation can be, as is implied in the text, so pure as to be freed from all mental or corporeal association; but when man's smell is- ↑ Règne Animal, T. I. 73.
