The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-04-16

i,in@ flaho VI the gOoSerOOt. The large
llver-coiored blossoms Of the Arum dra
cuhculus exhale q smell Of carrion that is
almost uncomfortable. Carbon flies, blow
nles ana other nausoeus insects gather to
ueposlt Their eggs upon these flowers,
MlstakIng them for putrefied meat. There
IS Kind Of orchid that has the offensive
smell of goat. The so-oalled mouse mush-
room smells like. q Emo use, and another
species OF fungus has the perfume of roast
peer. The leaves of the tooth leaved
maiden plum of the West Indies, when
buried, emit sulphurous odor that
causes birds to fall sutfocated. The ma
tlyes believe that is dangerous to sleep in
the shade of this tree.
Musk is very widely distributed in ma
ture, being found in birds, beasts, fishes,
insects. reptiles and plants. The com
mercial musk. is obtained mostly from
the musk deer: it is used chiefly to rem
der other perfumes permanent by admir-
ture with them. Ambergris, the origin
of which was for SO long puzzle. is now
known to be q hillary concretion which
occurs sometimes in the sperm whale. Its
formation is due to a disease of the ami
NAL. Its perfume somewhat resembles
that of musk, though much more deli
cate, and like musk it is employed to give
permanency of floral odors which in
themselves are evanescent. Jumps of
ambergris are sometimes found floating
on the sea, weighing as much as 200
pounds. The market price of it is SO enor-
mously high, over $50 an ounce, that
chunk of such q size represents quite a
fortune. Myrrh and frankincense are no
longer SO highly valued as in ancient
Tunes, though there is q considerable de.
mand for them. The former is gum
resin secreted in the bark Of a small
shrub that is native to the hot and dry
regions about the southern end of the
he'd Sea. This resin oxudeS from the
plant as an oily, yellowish white liquid,
which changes to reddish golden in dry
ing. Frankincense is known CONNER
principally for compromising incense to
burn in Roman Catholic churches. 1t
also is n gum resin. from plant that
grows along the southeast coast of Arabia
and on tho shores of northeast Africa.
1t is said that the sense of smell is better
developed in men than in women. In hui
man beings, however, it isabut slightly
developed as compared With the lower
animals. The reason for CHS becomes APP
parent when the structure of the skull of
a dog or cat is examined. Observing
the nasal passages of either of these
creatures, it is found that the so-called
turbinated bones are twisted and folded
in a complicated fashion, SO as to make
a great extent of surface in a small space.
Inc luteTlOf OIL Gn0 ldDyrlnUn mus
formed is lined with the Mucous men,
brane that contains the extremities of the
nerves of smell A section through the
turbinated homes of lear. which has a
pr r icularly keen sense Of smell, resembles
q hOneycolnb. In a human being the
turbinated bones ale poorly developed, so
that the surface of mucous membrane is
comparatively small. The sense of smell
is particularly acute in some fishes, as
the chapRS Tho n1faptCru ma ,brop ofe
big shark if spread out would cover
dozeu square feet.
All animals of the cat tribe are very
fond OF catnip or cat mint. This plant
can hardly be cultivated in town gardens
Because cats come in numbers to roll up
on it and tear it to pieces with their
teeth. Cats are also very fond of vale
rian. Wolves and foxes have weakness
for oil of rhodium, and musk is the
special fad of minks and weasels
Certain Brazilian ants when squeezed
give off the smell of lemons. This is be-
cause their bodies contain much formic-
acid, which is closely related chemically
to the citric acid of lemon peel Chem
istry has learned how to obtain some very
delicious perfumes from nauseous sub
stances, and thus from assafoetida is got
tn artificial vanilla known as syanillin. -
One of the most popular Of scents IS
which is an exquisite per-
fume that has been compared to mix
ture of hyacinth, narcissus and Glove. 1t
is from tho bell-shaped, yellow flowers
of a tree of Southern Asia, which attains
a height of sixty feet. The essential oil
of ylang-ylang was first brought to Eur
ope about 1854 Europe alone consumes
100000 gallons of cologne and other forms
of perfulned spirits annually. Enormous
flower farms are cultivated in France for
the sole purpose of providing the manu-
featuring perfumers with the blooms they
need. One perfumer Of Grasse uses each
YEAR SO. 900 pounds of Grange flowers,
81, 900 pounds of rose petals, 80. 900 pounds
of violets' and $4,000 pounds of tuberoses.
A ttar of ross is procured by distilling rose
petals with water. This product comes
chiefly from Turkey and from Ghazepor.
India. Two thousand roses yield one
drachm Of the altar. The pure altar of
roses is exceedingly offensive to the nos
trils; it is only when it is very much di-
luted that it's fragrance becomes SO in
comparably delicious.
Some smells are dangerous. A single
sniff of highly concentrated prussia acid
will kill q man as quickly as a shot
through the hesrt. Tle odor Of bad egg
Is due to the presence of sulphuretted hy-
irogen, and the Objectionable perfumes Of
sewers and bone factories are attributable
chiefly to the same gas Chemical labor
tlOIl5St etEo AOI DdO SlilG1IS. b0T-
zelius, who discovered the clement called
'selenium,'' once tried the experiment. of
a bubble of pure hydrogen
seleuide gas to enter his nostril For
lays afterwards he was not able to smell
strong ammonia, the oltaotory nerves be-
ing temporarily paralyzed. Selenium
has the odor of putrid horseradish. Tel
urium is even worse. There is a story
If physician whose patient, IA lady, re-
used to take an absolutely necessary re st
because she was so fond OF being ALWAYS !
IN the go in society. He gave her a pill
containing small quantity of tellurilip.
md her breath was affected by it to such
an extent that she was not able to appear
n public for month. she never guessed
What the trouble was. The volatiIized
essential oil of rose is supposed to Gauss
rose cold" This peculiar complaint is
70 far nervous in its character that paper
'oses sometimes excite it,
RENE BACHE.
TO THE PUBLIC. 4