1. "The fate of innumerable girls has been decided by a slight upward
or downward curvature of the nose," wrote Schopenhauer; and Pascal
declared that if Cleopatra's nose had been but a trifle larger the
whole political geography of this planet might have been different.
Owing to the fact that the nasal organ occupies the most prominent part
of the face, Professor Kollmann remarks that "the partial or complete
loss of the nose causes a greater disfigurement than a much greater
fault of configuration in any other part of the face." Of all our
features the nose has always been considered the most aristocratic, as
well as an important condition of beauty.
2. No less important is the nose as a condition of beautiful speech
and song. Jean de Reszke, the greatest tenor and vocal teacher of our
time, goes so far as to say that "la grande question du chant devient
une question du nez." Unless the stream of tone, when we speak or
sing, goes through the nose it lacks beauty and resonance; yet with
consistent stupidity we have bestowed the word "nasal" on the sounds
produced when the nose is _not_ used as a resonator or "sounding
board!" To fully comprehend the important musico-philological function
of the nose in giving beauty and variety to tones, read Chapter III of
Prof. G. H. Meyer's "The Organs of Speech."
3. The nose is a sort of funnel for warming the air before it enters
the sensitive lungs.
4. It is, furthermore, an apparatus for filtering the air on its way
to the lungs, which is done with the aid of fine hairs and _cilia_ in
the nostrils. Persons who breathe through the mouth have at the age
of thirty a gramme of dust in their lungs which they can never get
rid of. Mouth-breathing is a cause of catarrh, of unrefreshing sleep,
of snoring. Moreover, in the words of Dr. T. R. French, "the habit of
breathing through the mouth interferes with general nutrition. The
subjects of this habit are usually anemic, spare and dyspeptic."
5. The nose is a sentinel, warning us not to tarry where the air is
malodorous and dangerous to health.
6. Lavender water, eau-de-Cologne, attar of roses, and other perfumes
are, as everybody knows, effective in curing headaches and resting
the tired mind. The "Scotsman" tells an interesting story of Sir
William Temple's visit to the India House of Amsterdam where he and
his companions were exalted by the tonic effect of the spices and
aromas about them. John Evelyn proposed to make London the healthiest
and happiest city in Christendom by planting all around it hedgerows
of sweetbriar, rosemary, jasmine, etc. The feeling of relief which
delights us when we leave the city and step out of the railway car
comes from the natural fragrance of the trees, herbs, and flowers. This
fragrance makes us breathe deeply, and deep breathing is the greatest
of all tonics, as well as a preventive of colds and consumption. A
gardener has written of the "thrilling" fragrance of sweet peas, and it
is not too strong a word; I myself have often been thrilled by their
fragrance, or that of lilies, pinks, or hyacinths wafted across the
garden like sweet concords of music.
About ten million dollars a year is the amount spent in the United
States on perfumery. The best perfumes are still, and always will be,
the natural ones, made in the Riviera and Roumania. Grasse, in southern
France, alone uses 1,200 tons of roses, 200 tons of jasmine blossoms,
and nearly as many tons of violets every year. Of chemical imitations
of the natural perfumes Germany produces annually about $12,000,000
worth. When we try to guess the amount of perfumery the world needs
for toilet powders, sachets, dentifrices, and soaps, we realize what
an important part the nose plays in commerce. The nation's candy bill
exceeds a hundred million dollars a year; and candy is perfumed sugar.
The value of the world's annual tobacco crop is about $200,000,000,
and the appeal of tobacco is, of course, chiefly to the nose. Some
dolt wrote, many years ago, that if you blindfold a smoker he cannot
tell the difference between good and bad tobacco. He was evidently
anosmic--one of a considerable number of persons whose sense of smell
is not developed. To normal smokers the value of a cigar lies in its
fragrance, and it is their superior fragrance that makes the product of
Cuba the most costly of all cigars.
7. The seventh and most important function of the nose is the one
which--_mirabile dictu_--it remained for me to discover--the function
of perceiving and enjoying the countless varieties of flavor that are
developed in the food we eat. To what I have already said in proof of
this assertion let me add that the nerves of taste are affected by
liquids, and those of smell by gases; and the flavored air we breathe
out while eating is certainly not liquid!