How does the nose detect
smell?
The nose is an indispensable organ that is used for
breathing and sense of smell. If it is not working properly, we cannot
distinguish between foul smell and fragrance. How the nose detects smell?
The Internal Structure of Human Nose
The nose may look like a very simple structure but it is
very complicated in nature. The nose is composed of two bones and is situated
between the yes below the head and above the lips. These two bones from a kind
of bridge. In between them lies a wall of cartilage. Which divides the nose
into two parts called the nasal cavities. At the end of the nasal cavities lies
a thin membrane called the mucous membrane, which secretes a special fluid.
This fluid keeps the nose moist. The hair inside the nose waves back and forth
to prevent dust particles, bacteria and fluids from entering the lungs. So the
air that goes into the lungs through the trachea has already been filtered by
the nose.
The smell is detected by the cells present in the two
olfactory nerves situated at the end of the nasal cavities. These cells are
called receptors and are embedded in the mucous membrane. They are spread over
an area of 250 square millimeters.
It is believed that the sense of smell is closely related
to that of taste. We know that if a man has blindfolded and his nose was
blocked, he would not be able to differentiate the taste between a potato and
an apple?
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