The Organ of Smell

Galen. Claudii Galeni Opera Omnia, Volume 2. Kühn, Karl Gottlob, editor. Leipzig: Knobloch, 1821.

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This work is a scientific and medical treatise in which the ancient physician Galen anatomically and physiologically investigates the true location of the organ of smell. The author focuses on the fact that we perceive odors only when breathing, rather than through the nose alone, and attempts to clarify the physical pathway of olfaction through dissection. After examining the anatomical structure of the nasal cavity and the pathways to the brain, he rules out the nasal membrane and the trachea, concluding that the anterior ventricles of the brain are the primary organs of smell. Furthermore, he refutes Aristotle's hypothesis of a protective lid or valve in the nasal passage by presenting concrete experimental evidence and observations of other animals. Galen explains that the brain's own active expansion and the resulting intake of air are what make smell possible. Finally, he discusses the mechanism of waste excretion from the brain through sneezing and surgical observations of ventricular pressure, illustrating the functional connection between breathing and the brain.