The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1879-12-12
Perfumes and Girls.

A remarkable scientific discovery is
alleged to haye been made by the emf
nent scientific person, DIR. Piero Fabris
of Venice. DIR. Fabris was preparing an
exhaustive work on .HThe Function of
Perfume in Flowers" when the thought
occurred to him: Are not all our i'm,
pulses due to the influence of perfumes
and it is not possible to make the human
nose the greatest influence of education?
This thought led to the long series of
careful experiments which finally en-
abled him to formulate rules for the pro-
duction of female character at will.
DR.. Fabris's experiments were made
with the aid of seventy-eight girls of
between ten and fifteen years of age.
These girls he divided into six classes.
Each class was kept day and night in an
atmosphere STEPPED in some particular
perfume. The effect of these scientific
perfumes were carefully studied, and the
result is really startling.
The class of girls in musk consisted OF
thirteen members chosen at random. AT
the end of six months every girl, with
out exception, had become plump,
languid and conspicuously good tenn
pered, unless under extreme provocation.
Though Dr. Fabris found musk produced
a desire for wearing fine clothes and
jewelry. it Is also evident that it did not
stimulate taste for personal neatness,
though perhaps this was due to indispo
sition to take any unnecessary trouble,
| which is the characteristic effect of musk.
This experiment. convinced the investi-
gator that an amiable, languid and
snowy girl, with tendency to undue
postponement in the matter of collars
and cuffs, may be produced in from five
he 0f car
spiteful and viciously active material.
The effect of the perfume of the rose
was precisely opposite to that of musk.
| The girls of the rose class grew thin,
| abnormally neat, excessively prudlsh
and decidedly unamiable. A curious
| unwillingness to tell the truth was de-
| veloped in twelve of the thirteen girls
subjected to this experiment, result
which was the more rensarkable since, in
| other respects, they were unusually
| strict in obeying the teachings of the
church. For this style of girls there is,
| of faourse, little or no demand, except in
those parts of New England where every
| girl is expected to become school
| teacher.
| Geranium was found to produce fair
sample of girl Those subjected to its
influence developed the plumpness of
the musk girls, decidedly independent
spirit, and tendency to free thinking in
matters of religion. This kind of girl
would probably meet a large demand in
our Western and Northwestern States,
where personal beauty and strength of
character are much priced, and where
orthodoxy in religion is not regarded as
essential. fDr. Fabris is inclined to
think that by the alternate action of
geranium and violet modified girl
| might be produced, would be decided
| improvement upon either a pure gera-
MUM or pure violet girl.
| Very satisfactory results were obtained
by the use of violets. The girls upon
whom this perfume was employed be-
came gentle and truthful. They also,
however, developed some indications OF
melancholy, and were as rule, lacking
in physical and moral force. So far as
the doctors investigations have been
pushed, violet appears to give the best
results. It is hoped that his expectations
as to the alternative use of violet and
geranium will be justified; for in that
case we shall be able to produce girls
who will be almost faultless.
The only other perfume with which
DR.. Fabris experimental was patchouli,
and the results were most discouraging
At the end of two months the girls of the
patchoui class had developed every un-
desiring quality, and it was perhaps a
good thing that mob, justly maddened
] by the scent of patchoui which radiated
from the doctors laboratory, broke into
the premises and destroyed nearly every.
thing that they could lay their hands on.