Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/120

 112 SMELT faint or a delicate odor, we direct the air forci- bly upward, by a peculiar inspiratory effort of the nostrils, through the superior part of the nasal passages. This movement is especially observable in many of the inferior animals, in whom the sense of smell is remarkably acute, and the olfactory mucous membrane unusually extensive and sensible. The dog, for instance, will not only distinguish different kinds of ani- ni;ils by their odor, but will recognize different individuals of the human species, or particular articles of dress belonging to them. He will even follow the track of wild game by the minute quantity of animal odor left by their footsteps upon the grass or dried leaves. The sense of* smell, like the other senses, becomes habituated to particular impressions when long continued; even disagreeable odors gradually lose in this way their oflfensiveness, and we become after a time more or less insensible to their presence. A disagreeable odor is not invariably injurious in itself ; but it is almost always the indication or accompaniment of a gaseous emanation which is in reality noxious, or will become so if allowed to accumulate. The offensive odor is a warning to the senses that the atmosphere is no longer pure and should be renovated ; and if this warning be neglected, it at last ceases to make itself felt, and the exhalations may then imperceptibly increase until they produce serious injury. SMELT, a soft-rayed fish of the salmon fam- ily, and genus osmerus (Artedi). The body is elongated and covered with small scales ; there are two dorsals, the first with rays and the second adipose and rayless ; ventrals under the anterior rays of dorsal ; teeth on the jaws and tongue very long, and on the premaxilla- ries small and hooked; gill openings wide; air bladder silvery within. The common Amer- ican smelt (0. viridesceria, Les.) is about 10 in. long ; the upper parts with the dorsal and caudal fins are yellowish green with coppery reflections, with very minute black dots ; sides silvery white ; abdomen and lower fins milky white; gill covers golden. It is found from American Smelt (Osmenw viridescons). New York to Labrador, going up rivers in early spring and returning to the sea late in autumn, at which times immense quantities are taken by hook and nets ; the flavor is very delicate. They bear transfer from salt into fresh water, and have become permanent resi- dents in Champlain, Squam, and Winnipiseogee id in .1 unaica pond near Boston; these dl.-r and more slender than the marine smelt. The European smelt (0. eperlanw SMEW Art.) is from 7 to 9 in. long, lighter colored above, with thicker body and narrower head. They are found in all the rivers opening into northern seas; they are the eperlans of the French and the spirling or sparling of the English ; when recently taken from the water, they have a sweetish, not disagreeable, and cucumber-like odor, from which the generic and the common names are derived. Smelts eat small fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. SMELTING. See COPPER SMELTING, IRON MANUFACTURE, LEAD, and SILVER. SMET, Peter John de, an American mission- ary, born in Dendermonde, Belgium, Dec. 31, 1801, died in St. Louis, May 23, 1873. He arrived in Philadelphia in August, 1821, en- tered the Jesuit novitiate at Whitemarsh, Md., went to Missouri in 1823, and aided in found- ing the university of St. Louis, in which he labored till 1838, when he was sent to found a mission among the Pottawattamies. His suc- cess caused him to be sent to the Flatheads in 1840, and to the Blackfeet soon afterward. He then planned a regular system of miss;on- ary establishments, which were taken charge of by his brother Jesuits, reserving to himself a general superintendence over them and the duty of providing funds for their support. He published several papers in the United States and in Europe for the purpose of creating public interest in favor of these missions, re- peatedly visited Belgium and other Catholic countries to collect alms and obtain mission- aries, and established several new missionary centres on both sides of the Rocky mountains. During a last voyage undertaken for the mis- sions he sustained injuries which resulted in his death. His principal works are : " Letters and Sketches, and Residence in the Rocky Mountains" (Philadelphia, 1843); "Oregon Missions, and Travels over the Rocky Moun- tains" (New York, 1847); "Western Missions and Missionaries " and " New Indian Sketch- es" (New York, 1863); and Reisen zu den Fehengebirgen und ein Jahr unter den wit- den Indianerstammen des Oregon- Gelietes (St. Louis, 1865). SMEW (mergellus albellus, Selby), a web- footed bird differing from the typical mer- gansers, to which subfamily it belongs, in hav- ing the bill much shorter than the head and elevated at the base, and the mandibles with short and closely set lamella). It is about 17| in. long and 27 in. in alar extent ; the general color is white, whence its common name of white nun ; around the eyes, a patch on each side of the nape, semi-collar on each side of lower neck, middle of back, tail, and wings black ; scapulars, middle wing coverts, tertials, and secondary tips white ; in the female the head is reddish brown. It is found in t" northern parts of the old world, in wint coming down to central Europe, frequentii w the sea coast, lakes, and rivers ; it is an expert swimmer and diver, and feeds on fish and crustaceans ; the nest is made near the water,