me, he has observed that the scent of a flying and heated deer will sometimes continue on the ground from one day to the next."

We might collect a great variety of instances of the exquisite perfection of the senses in the lower animals; and we know that man in his state of nature possesses them in an extraordinary degree; the Indian being able by his sight alone to trace footsteps in the woods, on the leaves upon the ground, which could not be discovered by others. Blind men acquire so keen a sense of touch, that the tip of the finger is almost like an eye in discovering the qualities of near objects; and they can distinguish colours merely by a nice discrimination of that peculiar state of the surface of bodies to which each colour belongs. Boyle mentions that he knew a physician, who, in a fever, had his sense of hearing so nice and tender that he very plainly heard soft whispers, made at a considerable distance, which were not in the least perceived by the healthy by-standers; but when the fever left him, he heard as other men. And a medical friend of mine stated that he knew an instance of a gentleman whose sense of smell was so painfully acute, as to occasion him serious inconvenience. He could even distinguish his friends in a room, and different individuals, by the sense of smell alone.

An interesting illustration of the acuteness of sense is given by Dugald Stewart, concerning James Mitchell, a boy, born both blind and deaf, who hav*Boyle's works, Effluvia.

E

ing no other senses by which to keep up a connection with an external world than those of smell, touch, and taste, chiefly depended for information on the first, employing it on all occasions, like a domestic dog, in distinguishing persons and things. By this sense he identified his friends and relations, and conceived a sudden attachment or dislike to strangers according to the nature of the effluvium that escaped from their skin. He appeared to know his friends by smelling them very slightly, and he at once detected strangers. It was difficult, however, to ascertain at what distance he could distinguish people by this sense; but he appeared to be able to do so at a considerable distance from the object. This was par ticularly striking when a person entered the room, as he seemed to be aware of this before he could derive information from any sense than that of smell. When a stranger approached him, he eagerly began to touch some part of the body, commonly taking hold of his arm, which he held near his nose, and after two or three strong inspirations through the nostrils, he appeared to form a decided opinion concerning him. If it were favourable, he shewed a disposition to become more intimate, examined more minutely his dress, and expressed by his countenance more or less satisfaction. But if it happened to be unfavourable, he suddenly went off to a distance with expressions of carelessness or disgust.*

Collins relates "that the quickness of the New Hol

* Good's Study of Medicine, vol. iii. p. 257.

landers' eye and ear is equally singular: they can hear and distinguish objects which would totally escape an European. This circumstance renders them very acceptable guides to our sportsmen in the woods, as they never fail to point out the game before any European can discover it."

Another author says of a New Zealander, who accompanied him to England, "It was worthy of remark how much his sight and hearing were superior to other persons on board the ship; the sound of a distant gun was distinctly heard, or a strange sail readily discernible, by Moyhanger, when no other man on board could hear or perceive them."

The Hottentots "by the quickness of their eye, will discover deer and other sorts of game when very far distant; and they are equally expert in watching a bee to its nest. They no sooner hear the humming of the insect, than they squat themselves on the ground, and, having caught it with the eye, follow it to an incredible distance."

Barrow relates the following anecdote of one whom he had left behind ill on a journey: "He had fallen asleep about the middle of the preceding day, and had not awakened till night. Though very dark and unacquainted with a single step of our route, he had found us by following the track of the waggon. At this sort of business a Hottentot is uncommonly clever. There is not an animal among the numbers that range the wilds of Africa, if he be at all acquainted with it, the print of whose foot he cannot distinguish. The

print of any of his companions feet he would single out among a thousand."

Dr. Somerville confirms this statement, and refers the superiority of the Hottentots in these points to constant exercise of the organs.

In his frequent intercourse with the Nomadic tribes of Asia, Pallas had the best opportunities of observing their capabilities. "The Calmucks," he says, "have a fine nose, a good ear, and an extremely acute eye. On their journeys and military exeditions they often smell out a fire or a camp, and thus procure quarters for the night, or obtain booty. Many of them can distinguish by smelling at the hole of a fox or other animal, whether the creature be there or not. By lying flat, and putting their ear to the ground, they can catch at a great distance the noise of horses, of a flock, or of a single strayed animal. But nothing is so surprising as the perfection of their eyes, and the extraordinary distance at which they often perceive, from inconsiderable heights, small objects, such as the rising dust caused by cattle or horsemen; more particularly as the undulation of the boundless steppes, or plains, and the vapours which rise from and float upon them in warm weather, render things very obscure. In the expedition which the Torgot Vicechan Uaschi led against the Kubanians, the Calmuck force would certainly have missed the enemy, if a common Calmuck had not perceived, at the estimated distance of thirty versts, the smoke and dust of the hostile army, and pointed it out to other equally experienced

eyes, when the commander, Colonel Kischinskoi, could discern nothing with a good glass. They pursue lost or stolen cattle, or game, by the track for miles over deserts. Kirgises, or even Russians, in the wild parts of the empire, are equally able to follow and discriminate tracks by the eye. This, indeed, is not difficult on soft ground, or over snows; but it requires great practice and skill to choose the right out of several intermingled traces, to follow it over loose sand or snow, not to loose it in marshes or deep grass, but rather to judge from the direction of the grass, or from the depth of the print in snow or sand, how long it has been made."*

In civilized as well as savage life, a considerable degree of acuteness in some of the natural senses is often acquired by use. Mariners, it is well known, acquire a wonderful power of vision, by directing the eye habitually to distant objects on the horizon, while as Dr. Smith remarks, "men of letters who live much in their closets, and have seldom occasion to look at very distant objects, are seldom far-sighted." "It is often astonishing to a landsman to observe with what precision a sailor can distinguish in the offing, not only the appearance of a ship, which is altogether invisible to a landsman, but the number of her masts, the direction of her course, and the rate of her sailing. If she is a ship of his acquaintance, he frequently can tell her name before the landsman has

* See Lawrence's Lectures on Zoology, &c. chap. vi. where the above passages from the works of Collins, Barrow, and Pallas are cited.