New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-24
MYSTERY or SMELL.
PROBLEMS THAT AWAIT THE sTuDiors
ATTENTION OF SCIENTIFIC MEN.
From Tho Hartford Courant.

From Tho Hartford Courant
one subject which In this scientific age has not
vesigation IL the sense Of smell. our knowledge
OF the science OF odors remains about whore II
much about light. hee, and sound The old I'M
perfect classification Of smell, into Punsent saline
that most Of us know Is that some smells are
agreeable and some decidedly the reverse There
as base Of comparison. We do not know when
one smell II twice as strong as anotner. AS a
~, writer in aTfhe Independent'' does. indeed say
he found that there was connection between color
and perfume. lie finds that OF whit. nowsrs y
per cent: OF red little over per cent; OF yellow,
a little over per cent; Of blue per cent, , ana
flowers contain the largest number with disagree.
able odor. and the white the next largest. But
this ANALYSIS is viiated by the fact that per
another. There Is no eshet!c standard OF smells
igh,ful An English manufacturer OF perfume as
serts that he Is ahr TO combine odSrs SO A. 20
scale but this seems rather commercial than sci
entne n he s9nd rsns r y h c a% OF
different smell elements. tho foundation OF science
u One ne, remarkable thing about odor Is that the
emission OF 4 does not apPreciaely dminish the
as 1t dd a. ,hs Sss"nns LIS v wSsai must 81
hieo ,bnt an eject on our organs OF sense
be produced without an mPSc hut Of ns amount Of
matter disspated is inhni'esmal In the Gaze OF an
The sense OF smell Is apparently universal but
stronger IN animals than II men Tine le~ ~,,S
G 5s1 b sms w .m in Water and toe
ness Of the power Of smell in dogs and In s1v,
Indians could tell In the darkest night whether
tho person approaching was Eur1pesn Hef sbc
other senses the power OF analyzng odors IL some
times abnormaliy developed ,u-,
mute could dIstnsuish the indyidusIs in room s1S
which he T led IGhn was sDo 10 o ssae
oil iT'V wells with the certainty that setter finds
G5G"shs him fOsun q, Is
STANG al that teG no one has trained dog 10 point
ro dos IN Ss tf re taught sa 81
And s sm. II FsI.sSrS e.
metals ps ye h1yf sives Of .avium
though our sense IL not delicate enough TO de-
Save mo mo odor others ike chlorine and the product
Of the Hartford Gas Company ha ass sbs very b ps
S %Ss possess SHs nrrS Weight
great as that Of hydroEen before It can affect the
and smell and It is ,sd that no one son distinguish
sSyfaG: Of m tnns nSoSs
air Why IS thls7 No one knows One Of tho
e s n1ss aS to ns sens sS
deceived One may Imagine he sees things Which Lei,
eaps when there il no sound but II Is said that
the insane are not subject to 9aSSi s dels
What is the reason, what Is the explanation OF
the phenomenon? Again, why are the earth and
AT noon when, on the other hand the strength OF
most odors Is increased by heat? .
bluff, at some OF these problems. As Il Is. here
is an original sense Of power Of perception Of the
Of sight power for ths exercise Of which we
,sm the nature and modus operandi OF which
is as much matter OF conjecture as were those
wears ago Evidently science has not discovered
everything yet.