SMELLS THAT ACT AS SIGNPOSTS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18786, 21 May 1923, Page 11

SMELLS THAT ACT AS SIGNPOSTS.

By a Blind Man. Most people look on blindness as one of the most terrible misfortunes that can befall a man, and although in many ways it is a severe handicap, , a blind man is not nearly so nelpless as is generally thought.

Alter several years of being without sight I find that I can manage quite comfortably. 1 can’t, of course. Play football, but I can still do a great many things which my eyes used to do for me. When a man loses the sense ot sight his other senses seem to become more acute by way of compensation, and particularly his sense of smell and I find my nose a very good substitute for a strong pair of eyes. I can, for instance, with the aid of my nose find my way about, particularly in a district with which I am fully familiar, almost as easily as if I were able to see my surroundings, because to the keen sense of smell which I have developed no two streets smell quite the some. With your eyes shut you would never fail to recognise the smell of a railway station, of a restaurant or ot a barber’s shop. They are quite distinct, and you would recognise them instantly. These distinctions are much more noticeable to the keen sense of a blind man, and he can detect slight dilferences of odour which to a normal sense of smell are unnoticeable. Not only has each street a peculiar atmosphere of its own, but different parts of the same street have their distinctive smells which act as signposts. In a street that is fairly familiar to me my nose will always tell me where I am to within a few feet. (Close your eyes for a few times a» you walk down any street, especially one with shops in it, and notice the variety of smells you encounter. After a few experiments you will find that certain smells have become associated with certain parts of the street, and you will not need your eyes to tell you where you are. My nose is equally reliable as an aid to recognising my friends. The aroma of a brand of tobacco, of a hair-oil or of a particular kind of scent is often enough to disclose the identity of an acquaimancc before a word is spoil en. Anyone who does not realise how acute a blind man's senses become must regard his powers of perception as quite uncanny. A friend of mine is a case in point. Meeting Him one day in the street I remarked during our conversation that the suit he was wearing was not the one he had worn when last I saw him. As I had not touched him or either occasion ho could not imagine how I could possibly know. But there was nothing difficult about it. No two materials have exactly the same smell and with o little experience it is possible to dis tinquish readily between serge, tweed, flannel and any other material.