toast which my wife gives me at tea, and you may be thinking of a spice mill when they are grinding cinnamon, while neither of us has in mind the pure cinnamon odor. We haven't any fixed standards. The situation is very much as though none of us could read or write or had any knowledge that such an achievement were feasible. Then, if we were to see a few pages printed, respectively, in Gothic, Roman, and script text, and try to describe the difference between the letters printed, respectively, in German and English and written out in longhand, we should use all sorts of ineffective similes. How much more likely are we to fail if we use language designed for the eye and ear if we try to describe phenomena that are recorded only by the nose? Therefore our first business is to do less talking and more smelling.

How shall we do this?

First, we need a standard smelling bottle which requires no inventive genius whatever to prepare. A 200-c.c. flask with a cork perforated by two glass tubes, one for inlet and the other for outlet, and with one tube blown into a bulb at the end, with two perforated nipples that will fit into the nostrils, will serve as the required instrument. A given quantity of any substance may be put into the bottle, and the nipples and inlet tube stoppered. A definite time should be given for diffusion. If the substance to be smelled is a gas, a third tube may be introduced into the bottle through which the required volume of gas may be introduced for each test. Or, better still, the olfactometers of Zwaardemaker and others may be used. The apparatus is available; the main thing lacking is the habit of work with it.

alike. It was Helmholtz who said that if an optician should send him an instrument as defective as the human eye he would send it back as defective. Our situation in regard to noses would be worse. They are very defective, and we abuse them more by neglect than we abuse our eyes by strain. But an ancient tradition teaches us that we should do the best we can, and within the sphere of human effort neglect is not the key to progress. If in the course of time we should have a considerable record of olfactory data in regard to substances of which the chemical structure of the molecule has been determined with reasonable satisfaction, the physiologists might be led into a more effective study of the phenomena of smelling, and might learn something about it. We shall return to this very shortly.

It is said that very large molecules have no odor. It would be worth while to know how large they must be to lose this quality. If we knew the maximum number of carbon atoms possible in an odoriferous body this might help us amazingly in the study of its molecular structure. It would give us limits, which we often need. Of course it may be that there are smell ions. But if there are, wouldn't it be a help to know it? And would not this opinion, if backed up by proper research, be another excellent incentive to get the physiological chemists at work on the discovery of the nature of olfactory processes?

It is no less than monotonous to think how lacking we are in ingenuity in the face of big problems-until somebody begins. I offer the proposal that we develop the science of olfactory analyses, with a view to leading up to the chemistry of olfactories. But my solution of

It would be very illuminating to know the approximate proportion of molecules of a given substance in the air which produces an olfactory reaction. Of course we should make the amazing discovery that no two noses are exactly

tion. All that I can do is to call for that good old dray horse of science, and ask for a millionaire, a willing millionaire. He is a rare bird, and I have not the art to catch him. But, granted that he were caught and brought with all his willingness and wealth before us now,

our next step would be to find the scholarly and enthusiastic director of research. It is open to question whether Professor Zwaardemaker would care to leave Holland and come here for the purpose. He probably knows more of smell than anybody else living-but he may not care for soda-water. Then would follow the selection of the most available laboratory-whether in connection with a university, or one operated by private enterprise, would also have to be determined. After the work had been in progress for a few years we might begin to expect results. In all probability some new instruments would be designed, and the nature of the work would reveal special fields for other research which might be carried on in the original laboratory, or possibly given out to various university laboratories that are ambitious to contribute.

Then a few of us might begin to use our noses with intelligence. We might learn the solution to a number of problems now called psychic, such as the socalled transfer of thought, when A suddenly exclaims that B is in trouble, although B is a considerable distance away. We may learn under such circumstances that A smells the effluvia of fear of B as these bodies diffuse themselves through space. It may broaden the diagnosis of disease by the recognition of various products of degeneration. It may even give those of us who have the developed olfactory sense, a knowledge, or a rudimentary understanding, of the emotions of others, as special and recognized bodies may be exuded under emotion. We may say, offhand, that we do not want to smell anybody's grief, but the temptation to achieve greater knowledge and understanding and the greater power and authority that follow understanding would be very tempting to the ambitious. As for the science of chemistry, we can hardly measure the wealth of its contributions. These evasive bodies that hover about us in dilution which, outside of ordinary trade, we now ignore, would tell us a thousand things

of what is really in the air. It would open up a new source of understanding for the cognoscenti, and provide for a new field of scholarship beyond our present ken.

The only unfavorable effect of the development of this increased medium of intelligence that I can think of would be the tobacco business. The man with an active nose would probably be at most but exceedingly moderate in his smoking. But the tobacco dealers need not worry. Only a very few of the great number of human animals desire to be wise; most of them desire to be like others, and the others are so well settled in their habits that we shall probably have to wait a considerable number of generations for a race of smellers to appear. And even then an occasional smoke might be useful to clear the scent.

If we could make an advance of even a small fraction in human intelligence by the introduction of the use of a neglected sense, we should provide for a development in human progress that is intrinsic and subjective, which would loom large against our present efforts to achieve advancement through the mechanic arts. It would provide improvements in the operations of the human mind which are fundamental, which would be real steps ahead instead of mere conveniences, or the shortening of the time. factor in work of which we have boasted large and loud—and beyond the deserts of all but very few of us. The man who could smell better and with more understanding than the rest of us could think better and know more than the rest of us. And his increased understanding of others might give him greater sympathy, and thus improve his character. He is sorely needed.

A general diffusion of the knowledge of the power of the nose would cause great changes. It would change the pantomime of life. It would establish a new drama. And the romantic novels of the past three hundred years would have to be rewritten.

MAINLY HISTORICAL

BY LEE WILSON DODD

HE original Lion's Mouth, if I seize

the allusion, was that Venetian orifice into which anonymous informers popped the names of such persons as they hoped thus to deliver over to the Council of Ten for appropriate torture, incarceration, or death. That informers were then permitted to remain anonymous was naturally a kindness much appreciated by the informers. It made the whole practice of being an informer a delightfully detached and not dangerous avocation. One, in those spacious days, in that exquisite city, could fry and sell small devilfish, and other fruits of the sea, of a morning, and then stroll down to the Lion's Mouth in the late afternoon and drop into that affable maw the names of whatever customers had passed one false coinage or had made eyes at one's wife. To be able to rid oneself of spleen in this way, without the slightest immediate risk, must have been enormously hygienic: in short, the Lion's Mouth provided-at the public expense -an effective catharsis for all one's baser and more violent emotions. True, it was always possible that some customer, whom one had advertently cheated, had also repaired to the Lion's Mouth and availed himself of the common privilege! But even so, where a risk is so generally shared it is easily accepted. We must all have "flu" now and then, and die some day; but we spend little time worrying about it. And so, I fancy, with those privileged Venetians! What they appreciated was the opportunity to be sneaks and telltales, and indulge their malicious and revengeful impulses without any instant physical danger. That the Council of Ten, mean

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while, hovered over them and would almost certainly catch them all, one at a time, was worth no more than the passing shrug which mortality-in other, yet similar circumstances-pays to the inevitable.

I cannot but feel that the present Lion's Mouth, while an admirable and amiable forum, falls a little short of the possibilities of the earlier receptacle. This is not to be taken as censure; I am merely indulging a trait possessed so supremely by Mr. Wells-the "historical imagination." The uses of that elder Mouth woo me and seem quite as sweet as those of adversity! It was so tempting and flexible an instrument, and must have prevented the formation of many an ingrowing complex. Only consider the possibilities of the gaping thing! Well, take your own case ! Are there no bores who cling about you? No people with pet diseases or pet panaceas? No organizers of parlor games, or of the Uplift? No priestesses of Progress? Ah, you smile! But are you able to snub these folk into outer darkness? No, you are not. Off with me, back with me, then, to Venice!-jotting down their several names on pink slips, neatly folded, as we retire from this modern world. And so for a pleasant jaunt to the Doges' Palace.

I there before thee, in the country so well thou knowest,

Already arrived am inhaling the odorous air:

I watch thee enter unerringly where thou goest-!

And now, a curve of the sly wrist at the secret moment! The Lion's Mouth yawns-the pink slips flutter down within, to be harvested by Assistant Secretaries of State in black masks and

dominos! At once the machinery of that oligarchic government begins to turn and clank, the mills of the Doges to grind exceeding small!

Case 237,641: Writes unpunctuated stammerings of the Unconscious in free verse, and recites them frequently without provocation.

Nip her rhythmically with white-hot pincers, then simmer in vitriol.

Case 237,642: Cannot hear the name

of Wilson pronounced without foaming at the mouth. Sneers at the mere mention of a League of Nations.

Flay him with scorpions!

Case 237,643: Cannot hear the name of Harding pronounced without foaming at the mouth. Sneers at the mere possibility of his being compos mentis.

Eviscerate him!

Case 237,644: Ever describes, on sight, the remarkable cards held by him. in some bridge game, last week but one.

Feed on cutlets salted with strychnine, peppered with cyanide.

Case 237,645: Indulges in cubism.
Square him off with a meat ax!
Case 237,646: Is a toddle toad.
Shiver her timbers!

But enough has been suggested to indicate the social value and ironic playfulness of the original institution. Its scope was practically unlimited. It might even be well to revive it-with due precautions-for the purgation and amusement of this Land of Freedom. Why not a legislative Lion's Mouth in Washington, by the doors of the Capitol -no names to be dropped into it, however, save those of our Senators and Representatives?

The thought is an inspiration! I bring forward this proposal, without diffidence, as the solitary plank for a new national party. I believe a party founded on such a plank could sweep the country at the next presidential election. I am even willing to lead such a party and accept its nomination for any office-that is, if I have not been earlier approached and acquired by the

magnates of the movies. But that proviso, nowadays, may be said to be understood.

CO-OPERATION

BY C. A. BENNETT

THE president of the association rose

from his seat at the speakers' table

and spoke as follows:

"It is with the profoundest emotion, gentlemen, that I rise to address you. As I look out upon this great gathering and see before me representatives from every state in the Union, I realize that our message has gone out into every part of this vast country, and that all the members of our profession, from the humble practitioner in the country town to the specialist in the great city, are knit in the bonds of a common brotherhood. I have often dreamed of such an occasion as this when we meet to celebrate the completion of our national organization; but I never thought that I should be privileged to live to see it. Yet truth is often stranger than fiction, and to-night the dream of a lifetime has come true.

"I remember how, when I was still but a lad learning to follow in my father's footsteps, the great idea came to me. In those days my father used sometimes to allow me to accompany him on his evening rounds and many a time it would be after midnight when we returned, footsore and weary, to our house. I knew that the next morning would find him at work again. Somehow it seemed all wrong to me. And then one night, when we had returned very late, I suddenly put the question to him. 'Father,' I said, 'you work too hard. Why don't you get some one to share with you, one of you to do the day work and the other the night work?' I can still see the way he turned round swiftly from the cupboard where he was busy putting away his things and exclaimed, 'What's that you say?'

"Gentlemen, right then and there the great idea of co-operation was born.