Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/297

SMEDLEY. ■251 SMET. Edmund Yates (q.v. ), he wrote a book of iion- Beiise verses entitled ilirih and Metre (1855). His last years were spent in retirement near Marlow. SMEDLEY, William Thomas (1858—). An American painter and illustrator, born in Chester County, Pa. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and under Laurens in Paris. His sketches, published in the standard magazines, are clever delineations of modern life. His other works include "Challenged" (1900), "In a Gallery" (lilOO), and "Old People in a Park" (1900), and portraits. He was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design, and received the Evans prize at the American Water Color Society in 1890, and a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900. SMELL. Sensations of smell are set up through the stinuilation of the end-organs of ttm olfactory nerve, by odorous particles contained in the current of inspired air. The ultimate number of smell qualities is difficult to determine. Like t.astes, odors come to us higlily fused with alTective qualities, with other sensations, pres- sure, temperature, tickling, or even pain, and with secondary efl'eets such as drowsiness, sneez- ing, or weeping. Compare the effects of carbon disulphide, chlorine, acetic acid. In 1896 Aronsohn suggested a method of classification by exhaus- tion. A given substance is smelled until entire fatigue (perhaps better, adaptation) ensues; other substances are then applied with the result that (J) some remain at their normal intensity, (2) others possess a lessened intensity, and (3) others are entirely imperceptible. Thus, after ex- haustion by iodine, eajeput is strong, mace very weak, pine imperceptible; after exhaustion by camphor, eajeput is very faint, mace strong, pine very faint. Certain smells are compensatory; if given simultaneously, they cancel one another. Compensation, it should be noted, is not the mere swamping of one odor by the sheer intensity of a second, which is often observed in actual life, e.g. in the operating room ; it is a complete nulli- fication of olfactory sensation, comparable to the production of neutral gray by the mixture of complementary colors. Finally, there are smell contrasts. Cheese and Bordeaux, high game and Burgundy, are evidently opposed odors. Ex- perimental investigation shows that sensitivity to either one of the scents of a compensation-pair will be increased bj' previous stimulation with the other. Bibliography. Aronsohn, ArcMv filr Anat- omie und Physiologic (Leipzig, 1886) ; Gamble, Am. Journal of Psiicholofni. x. (1898) ; Kuelpe, Outlines of Psychology (London, 1895); Nagel, Zeitschrift filr Psychologie tmd Physiologie, xv. (1897) ; Titehener. An Outline of Psychology (New York, 1899) ; id.. Experimental Psychology (ib., 1901 ) ; Vintschgau, "Physiologic des Geruchs- sins," in Berinann's Handhnch der Physiologie. iii. (1880) ; Zwaardemaker, Die Physiologie des Geruchs (German trans., Leipzig, 1895). See Intensity : Nose. SMEL'LIE, William (1740-95). A Scottish printer and antiquary, born in Edinburgh. From the grammar school he passed to an Edinburgh printing house, where he performed his duties ■with marked efficiency. Meanwhile he attended lectures at the university. In 1765 he began business as printer, in conjunction with a fel- VOL. XVIII.— 17. low apprentice. The firm brought out the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (1771). Smellie held important positions in several learned societies of Edinburgh. Of his works the most popular was 77i<? Philosophy of Natural History (completed by his son in 1799). SMELT (AS. smelt; perhaps connected with smeolt, smylt, smooth). One of a genus (Os- merus) of fishes of the family ArgentinidiB, sometimes included under the Salmonidoe. They are merely reduced salmon, from which they dif- fer principally in tlic form of the stomach and in their smaller size. They are slender, delicate fishes, inhabiting the coasts of Europe and North America; some enter rivers to spawn. Their flesh is most delicate and they are highly valued as food. There are only a few species. The common European smelt is Osmcrus eperlanus, called 'spirling' or 'sparling' in Scotland, and |eperlan' in France. It grows to be about 8 inches long, and is abundant. The American smelt {Osmerus mordax) is very closely related to the European species, attains a length of about 12 inches, and is abundant along the Atlantic coast of the United States from Virginia to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It ascends streams to spawn and has become landlocked in lakes in New England, where it thrives, and is important not only for the markets, but especially as food for salmon and trout. On the California coast and northward to Alaska occurs an important species {Osmerus thaleichthys) and a common species of the Far East is Osmerus Japonicus. See Colored Plate of Philippine Fishes; and Plate of Whitefish, Smelts, etc. SMELTING. See sections on Metallurgy in the articles on Iron and Steel; Copper; Gold; Silver; and other metals. SMER'DIS (Lat., from Gk. ^^pSis, also M^pSii, Merdis, Babylonian Barziya, OPers. Bardiya ; connected with Av. bar^za, high ) . A son of Cyrus. At his father's death the young prince controlled several provinces in Eastern Iran, but he was soon put to death by the order of his elder brother Cambyses II. (q.v.). Dur- ing the absence of Cambyses in Africa a Magian named Gaumata, who closely resembled Smerdis. impersonated the dead man, since the murder was not generally knovn. The rebellion begun by this pseudo-Smerdis in 522 became so danger- ous that, if the inscription of Darius Hystaspes, the earliest record of these events, may be trusted, the entire Persian Empire was in "com- motion, a reign of terror followed. According to the classical authors, some Persian nobles soon suspected the impostor, and were convinced when they found through one of his wives that his ears had been cropped. Seven of them then entered the palace and killed the pretender after he had reigned seven months. SMET, Peter .John de (1801-72). A Roman Catholic missionary to the Indians. He was born in Termonde, Belgium, was educated at the episcopal seminary at Mechlin, and in 1821 em- barked for the United States. He was received into the .Jesuit Order at Whitmarsh, Md., and in 1828 went to Saint Louis, participated in the establishment of the LTniversity of Saint I^ouis, and became one of its professors. In 1838 he en- tered upon the work that occupied him the re- mainder of his life, first among the Potawatarai Indians and later among the Flatheads of the