The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-09-11

is the most acute, for the sense quickly
becomes blunted; therefore, all depends
upon the initial sniff when the expert
in smelling is solving the inys-erles or
certain odors. Perhaps you nave no.
| ticed that the first scent OF rose IS the
strongest and most pleasing, ana that
after few minutes exposure the H.
tensity of even a fetid odor may be-
come imperceptibe What Is the
cause of it? Well, it is accounted Tor
on the supposition that the olfactory
| membrane becomes quickly coated Win
d thin layer of matter, and that the
most powerful effect ie produced when
the odiferous substances are applied 10
clean surface, The intensity OF smell
depends on two things: First, the area
! of olfactory surface affected, and, Sec
ond, the degree of concentration VI the
| odiferous matter. If you We're to MI
your nostrls with different odorous
substances you would find no mixture
of the odors, but would smell sometimes
one and sometimes the other Men en-
gagged in educating their noses often OK
| pertinent on the olfactories. one thing
made known by this tinkering Is that
morphia, mixed with sugar, and taken
like snuff, will paralyze the smelling ap-
paratus. Strychnne renders 1T more
sensitive.
"One of the most powerful odors we
have to deal with is musk two or three
grains if which will scent an apartment
for years, and at the end Of that time no
appreciate loss of weight can be de-
tected. Substances exciting smell are
| but
many gases which have no odor at all.
AS a rule, those substances which have
! a low molecular weight have either no
smell or simply cause irritation OF the
nostrils Acids gain odor with increase
in density in the form of gas.
"A queer thing about the sense OF
| smell is that our perception of odors Is
much less distinct at night than in the
daytime 1t is most alert when the at
mosphere contains considerable
| amount of aqueous vapor, For eX-
ample, the odor Of flowers are more
distinctly perceived in the morning or
after a shower. Odors of animal ef-
nuvia are of a higher specific gravity
! than the air and do not diffuse readily,
fact which accounts, in all proba-
bility, for hunting dogs and blood
hounds keeping their noses to the
ground. True. such odors are extreme
" persistent and are difficult to remove
from any surface to which they be-
come attached. The odor Of corpse
may haunt living persons for days de-
spite many additions and frequent
changes of clothes.
| How much can educated noses earn?
| M 4 ! q
is fair price for a bender or COM
FOUNDER with a trained nose who WORKS
on salary, although there are afeW VINO
make a great deal more. A chemist
who is in business for himself generally
contrives to make his nose earn great
deal more than the sum mentioned
but he has to combine good business
aptitude with his perfected sense OF
smell to do it. OF the men in New
York who may be termed exert smellers
there are not more than 10 or l6, to my
knowledge, but there are great many
more who consider themselves experts
in smells and who make their living
with their noses Every buyer of per-
fumery has a high opinion of his abiil-
ty to smell out qualities. They are US
ually so overconfident that any COM
pounding chemist may deceive them
with cheap blends and mixtures
Naturally a man with nose which
earns him money has to be very careful
of 1t. No pampered opera singer was
ever more careful to avoid colds than
the expert smeller. A single case of in
nuenza or affection of the bronchial
| tubes impairs the experts usefulness
for several days and even threatens
permanent injury to his delicate olfac-
| tory organ Frequently the question
is asked me: Does cigar smoking I'M
pair the delcacy of the sense of smell!
don't think 1t does, in moderation al
| though that Is a moot point, some men
with educated noses contending that IL
does. others taking my side OF the case
and enjoying a good weed opportuneiy'
But no mon can drink LIQUOR steadily
| and retain the fnesness of the sense
Somehow copious imbibing seems to inn
pair the olfactory organs first OF all, ana
I have noticed that hard drinkers are
| afflicted with catarrh"
Next to the blenders and compound
ers employed by the great manutact-
! uring chemists, the men who test teas
make most use of the nose for money
earning purposes The sense OF taste Is
used by the tea expert as well as smell.
AS a rule he receives more for his ser
vices than the chemist 1t is to the
pleasant accompaniment of cumming
tea kettles, boiling and bubbling away
over the gas Jets, that the tea faster
works. Before him is placed cir
cular revolving table five feet in diam
eter or less and supported on solitary
stationary leg In the center stands
pair of light scales, and around the
edge of the table is narrow ledge, ha't
an inch lower than the surrounding
| top, on which are placed small pack
ages of tea and a number of tiny egg
shell cups At the side of the table
stands a tall slender cuspdor made OF
brass and shaped like an hour-glass.
When the tea-tester is. ready to eX-
ercise his Alice he weighs out sample
drawings. as he calls them, from as
many packages as he wishes to test,
placing each sample in separate cup.
| Assistants fill every cup about two
thirds full of hot water from one of the
humming kettles, and, while the in
fusion is in progress, the tester looks on
breathlessly closely noting with alert
| glance the character Of the scum which
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