"Down with the nose, take the bridge quite away
Of him, that his particular to forefend
_Smells_ from the general weal."
There may have been many other such noses that have escaped
observation,--"born to _blush_ unseen:" enough, however, I have here stated
of those my recollection furnishes me with at the moment, to establish the
fact of variety, and to lead curious physiologists to a scientific
classification of this _prominent_ and well-deserving feature of the human
face. I would recommend a proper distinction being observed between
functional varieties, and those which arise from size, shape, or colour, of
which, in a cursory way, may be enumerated first,--
_Shape._[9]
Roman. Snub. Flat. Bottle nose,
Grecian. Pug. Sharp. Parrotical nose.
_Colour._
Red. Malmsey. Purple.
Ruby. Claret. Copper.
[9] Lavater considers the nose as the fulcrum of the brain; and
describes it as a piece of Gothic architecture. "It is in the
nose that the arch of the forehead properly rests, the weight of
which, but for this, would mercilessly crush the cheeks and the
mouth." He enters into the philosophy of noses with diverting
enthusiasm, and finally concludes, "Non cuique datum est habere
nasum:"--it is not every one's good fortune to have a nose! A
sharp nose has been considered the visible mark of a shrew.
Now, what does all this come to? _Cui bono?_ A great deal for surgery; let
us examine what may be done;--we know that noses may be supplied,--may not,
therefore, a small one be enlarged, and a large one made small? We have
seen a person with a _bunch_ of _noses_, but can only, on the authority of
Shakspeare, quote one "who had a thousand."
For a great length of time nothing was admired in the world but Roman
noses,--and then not a word was heard about them, till William III. brought
them again into fashion.
People occasionally possess the power of voluntary action with the muscles
of the nose, and can move it horizontally, or to the right and left,--draw
it up or protrude it,--so as to make it take any position they please.
Painters have been provokingly deceived by this stratagem, and have in vain
attempted the portraits of such persons, who were able at every instant to
produce a new physiognomy.
One of the qualifications for the Ugly Club was a nose eminently
miscalculated, whether as to length or breadth,--the thickest skin had
preference.
Hitherto we have only considered external appearances; we must now notice
its functional and other properties.
With some persons, the nose is a sort of barometer,--a certain state of the
atmosphere is invariably announced to them by an agreeable sensation of
coldness at the tip.
Zimmerman used to draw conclusions, as to a man's temperament, from his
_nose!_ Not indeed from its size or form, but from the peculiar sensibility
of the organ.
Cardan considered acuteness of smell as a proof of penetrating genius, and
a lively imagination.
Haller could distinguish perspiration at ten yards' distance.
There have been instances on record of blind people who were able to
discover colours by the touch; and deaf and dumb, who could feel sounds by
placing their hand upon the speaker's mouth: this, however, is not more
astonishing, than that the sense of smelling should be so acute, as to
enable some persons to judge by it the quality of metals. Martial mentions
a person, named Mamurra, who consulted only his nose, to ascertain whether
the copper that was brought him were true Corinthian. There have been
Indian merchants who, if a piece of money were given them, by applying
their nose to it, defined its quality to a nicety, without touchstone,
balance, or aqua-fortis. Europeans, also, are to be found whose sense of
smelling is equally delicate and perfect.
Marco-Marci speaks of a monk at Prague, who, when any thing was brought
him, distinguished, by its smell, with as much certainty as the best nosed
dog, to whom it belonged, or by whom it had been handled. It was also said
of him, that he could accurately distinguish, in this manner, the virtuous
from the vicious. He was much devoted to the study of natural philosophy;
and, among other things, had undertaken to oblige the world with precepts
on the sense of smelling, like those we have on optics and acoustics, by
distributing into certain classes a great number of smells, to all of which
he had given names; but an untimely death cut him off in the midst of these
curious researches.
The guides who accompany travellers on the route from Smyrna or Aleppo, to
Babylon, have no other signs in the midst of the deserts, to discover their
distance from the place of destination, than the smell of the sand alone,
by which they determine with certainty. Perhaps they judge by the odour
exhaled from small plants, or roots, intermixed with the sand.
Physicians, in visiting the sick, have been known to form a prognostic,
before having seen the patient, from the effluvia of the sick-room. Those
who are in the habit of visiting the insane, know the peculiar odour that
characterises that dire calamity; and it was remarked of the plague, that
it had "a scent of the flavour of mellow apples."
It is said that monkeys possess this power of discrimination in a very
eminent degree. A story is told of a lady who had a pet of this
description, whom she made her constant companion, and who suddenly,
without any apparent cause, forsook her, and could not be persuaded to
re-enter her chamber. The lady was at that time infected with measles,
which shortly after appeared upon her; but, on her perfect recovery, the
monkey returned to her with his usual familiarity. Some time after, the
same lady caught cold, and was apparently very ill, but without fever. The
monkey, as far as might be judged from his appearance, seemed to condole
with his sick mistress, and to understand the difference of her distempers,
by the confidence with which he remained in attendance upon her.
It has even been said, that the sagacity of some dogs has led them to
prognosticate the fatal termination of disease. "Whilst I lived at Ripon,"
says a learned doctor, "I took notice of a little dog, of a chestnut
colour, that very often boded the death of sick persons, without being
once, for aught I could learn, mistaken. Every time he barked in the night
under the windows of any one whose sickness did not even appear dangerous,
it happened, infallibly, that the sick person died that week. I knew also,"
observes the same author, "a man bit by a mad dog, who could distinguish
his friends at a considerable distance by the smell, before even he could
distinguish them by sight."
So early as the second century, the supplying the deficiency of a lost nose
became an object of professional consideration; and the Greeks gave the
name [Greek: Kolobhômata], to those who required such an operation.
Taliacotius was the first who treated it scientifically; and, from his
time, the art of Addition became one of the branches of surgery; and, under
the title _"De Decoratione,"_ formed a very interesting chapter.
Although Taliacotius has the credit of bringing the art of nose-making into
fashion, and being the first to write on the mode and manner of performing
the operation, yet it appears that one Branca had been in the habit of
performing it long before, as we learn from an ancient author, whose name
must, in this instance, be considered as the highest authority, being no
less a person than NOSORENUS.
Why the magistracy of Bologna should have conferred the high honour of a
statue on Taliacotius it is difficult to understand,--unless the loss of
the nose was of more frequent occurrence than in those days, from the
barbarity of warfare and civil punishment; for an old law of the Lombards
assigned the loss of the nose as a punishment for theft; and the captives
in war were equally spoiled for snuff-takers.
That this was no uncommon dilemma with Italian gentlemen in the fifteenth
century, appears by the style in which a Neapolitan poet writes to the
_noseless_ Orpianus:--"If," says he, "you would have your nose restored,
come to me--truly the thing is wonderful. Be assured that, if you come, you
may go home again with as much nose as you please."
It does not, however, appear that the nasal operation made any impression
on our ancient English surgeons. Wiseman does not even mention it, though
slitting the nose, and cutting off the ears, was a common mode of punishing
political delinquents in his time; and it is said that Prynne, whose ears
were cut off, had new ones made, "_à la_ Taliacotius." The fact is, that
the operation was misunderstood, and disbelieved, as we know by the jocose
manner in which it is alluded to by Butler. It has, however, been
successfully revived, and performed, by Mr. Carpue.
Connected with the varieties of the organ of scent, is the well-known story
of that extraordinary lusus, the _Pig-faced Lady_.--_Brande's Journal_.
* * * * *