1892 The flowing bowl when and what to drink (1892, c1891)

PHYSIOLOGY AND DIET.

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habit, surroundings, and training. Children fancy cer- tain articles of food and dislike others, because other members of the family do the same. That taste may be developed, especially when assisted by the sense of smell, is seen in expert tea and wine tasters. Although the sense of smell is in man not so acute as the other senses, and its impressions often need to be confirmed by the others, we would be very wrong to undervalue it. Odors, to be recognized, must be presented in a gaseous form, when they are forcibly drawn up by inspiration into the higher portions of the nasal fosses. There is no doubt that the sense of smell may be highly developed, especially in conjunction with other senses, or in case these are deficient. It is related that a certain blind and deaf mute was able to recog- nize, by the sense of smell, any person with whom he had previously come into contact. Every part of an organism is subject to certain alter- ations, caused by mechanical or chemical action; it gradually ceases to work when the products of reaction are not eliminated, and the loss of material is not equaled by fresh nutritives. Accordingly, we may say that the natural condition of every organism depends upon digestion and assimilation. How these two functions work we do not intend to demonstrate, as it can easily be found in any treatise on Physiology; only this we may be permitted to say, that the materials