The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-25
HIGHLY EDUCATED NOSES.
A FEW OF THEM TBAT EARN THEIR
OWNERS LARGE SALARIES.

Perfume Makers Art-Tea TRsters and
Experts In Wines and Liquors.
Externally there was nothing remarkable
about the compoundinR chemists nose. TWAS
long and aduillne. with wide. full nostrils
which dilated perceptibly with every inhala-
ton. and was very like many other noses ac-
copied by individual possessors and the world
at large as purely matters Of anatomical fact.
But it was not an ordinary nose by any means.
for 1t earned the compromising chemist salary
of s., 500 a year. he said. because OF Its ability
to disclose subtle facts OF composition when
poked into odorous compounds.
Il suppose there are between fifty and sixty
educated noses earning comfortable livinRs for
their possessors in New York." said he. Men
whose olfactores are 80 developed that they
can discriminate between odors which offer no
distinctions to an uneducated nose are EN-
ployed by the manufacturing chemists. tea i'm
porters and the large wine and liquor estab-
lishments. A perfectly trained nose is entirely
necessary to those of us whose business is the
compromising, blending and testing Of per-
fumes. essences and essential oils but We are
obliged to be practical chemists as we'll as able
exerters of the olfactory functions"
How is a nose educated 2" asked the re-
porter.
"In various ways and by various means.
1t depends greatly upon the field Of useful
ness in which the trained nose is designed to
sniff. But, first of all. it is necessary thor
oughly to understand the limitations md pos
siblities Of the sense Of SMELL and the limta-
tons. so far as man is concerned far outweigh
the possibilities. The deicacy OF tho sense is
much greater in innumerable lower animals
than in man. and to many it is the most vau-
able OF their senses. The animals which
breathe in water are made aware OF the prox-
unity OF odoriferous matter without touch.
sight or hearing. but by some sense OF taste or
smell. ora combination Of both. and 1t Is very
probable that dogs. cats. and other animals
OF intelligence obtain information by means
of the sense which human being cannot get.
The principal information conveyed by the
sense OF odor to man whose nose Is not espe-
cially trained for more searching investiga-
lions relates to the characters Of food and
drink. and the purity of the air In the minds
of many animals. no doubt. odors excite vivid
Impressions and it is quite likely they have a
memory OF smells which man does not possess.
The sense Of smell Is to be improved only
by constantly exercising It, Very frequently ii
attains highest development In the blind. who.
deprived OF that sense which the majority Of
us unhestatingly declare to be the most valu-
able OF the five. exert the remaining four to
com pensate the loss as far as possible Some
cases are on record where the blind have de-
pended mainly upon smell to continue con-
nection with the outer world and readily OBJ
served the presence of n stranger in the room
and formed their opinion OF persons by their
characteristic smells. To become an olfactory
expert one must begin young and while the
epitheia cells Of the mucous membrane in the
oltactory reRion proper OF the nose are IN per
feet s9ndt'9n His throat as well as MS nose
Of the throat or mouth is apt TO affect
the functions OF the nasal organ delete riousy
Not fntN nnf hn1 Ia
become an expert snifrer, The olfnctory sur
face must be moist; If it is dry or covered with
too deep layer Of mucus. as in catarrh and
kindred ailments the sense is much weakened
or entirely destroyed The intelligent young
T or on5n an. ana nose 9Hd
sense alone will not carry him through the
odorous world, might render, his olfactory
about five years although hc could not reach
tho plane of the ,expert, inside OF Ia decade:
smell so as to make 1t unerring in the mat
ter Of discriminating between odors. They
B16 4 h"sw al E os sDd Sn s i
the GsSc thes Of the Hdos which
son of this is that most Of US Americans are
known 10 tie afIiicted Or th9roHshly Devotional.
c"!!sYrr4a' s,i, ,ns reror,orno s,,tvo,r
The man with the educated nose took two
Of "o!orless liquid upon hit q blottIng PAPER.
Of Soh sd Ra T st one
odorous stain and then the other to the report
mark The reporter shifted and snifred again.
according to instructions. but confessed at
:" hardly thought you could" returned the
chemist with an indulgCnt smile. g You have
incipent catarrh. and the epithea cells are
the strong difference between these odorous
Homrnunls, ono Of which is purely chemical
lie was taken from the flower. Any expert
h!e4ler or even person with q perfectly
difference with a single inhalation. But no
one could really attain the NECESSARY expert
persons engaged by manufacturing chemists
who do nothing put poke their noses into odor-
blenders as well as smclers.
Smelling as prqcticed by experts does not
begin and end with plunge Of The nose into
values and properties of odors are questions
th ms soul of he smeRe nay chemis ev" I hdngT
i" is az. expert Of standing and long practice.
To excite smell substances must be present in
the atmosphere in n condition OF fine subdi-
vision. or existing as vaporS or gases. and the
greater the diffusion of the substances in. a
odor. That is why W" compounding chemists
, When testing du perfumes usually rub them
nit the fumes, to dIssemnato in the air
Immediately below our nostrils. and then sniff
Slowly anu strongly. Tor 1t Is necessary that the
air containing the Odor shall be driven with
force against the membrane Of the olfactOry
region. Your nostrs might be filed with
ottar Of roses or air, lmpreRnated with that
most compelling OF odors. suIphuretted hydro
gen. and still no smell would be experienced if
you did not breathe. When q sniff Is made the
air within the nasal passages is ,rarihed. and,
the air PUSHES in. it is forcibly propelled
against the olfactory surface.
The first moment OF contact OF the odorif-
erous particle with the mem brane Ia the most
acute, for the sense quickly becomes blunted:
IA "a do hA tNtf al ~
when the expert in smelling is solving the
mysteries Of certain odors. Perhaps you have
noticed that the first scent OF a rose IL the
strongest and most pleasing. and that after a
few minutes exposure the intensity Of even q
frtId odor may become imperccptible. What
Is the cauS" OF it, Well, it is accounted for on
the suppostion, that the olfactory memhrane
becomes quickly coated with thin layer OF
matter. and that the, most powerful effect is
produced when the odoriferOus substances are
applied to a clean surface. The Intensity OF
smell depends on two things: First the area OF
Olractory surface affected, and. second the de-
gree u concentration Of the odorferous IN at
ter II you were to Ill your noatrils with diff
ferent odorouE substances you would And no
mixture of the odOrs. but would smell some
times ono and sometimes the other. Men en-
gagged in educating their noses often expert
ment on the olfactories. Ono thing made