The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-05-19
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1 N EMINENT AUTHORITY on con-

~ tagious diseases urges those peo-
pie whose duties take them into
contact with germs, in closely settled
districts, to be lavish in the use of per-
fumes as preventatives. In this con-
nection he recommends violet, laven-
der, altar Of roses and the more deli
cate and lasting essences in general.
rather than the heavier ones of musk
and the like.
The time was, and has not yet passed,
when odors were believed to be disin-
fectng in their influence, and very bad
odors they were and still remain.
Anything more absolutely obnoxious
than the smell of the disnfectants
commonly used can scarcely be con-
ceived, unless in the vicinity of a des-
sicating establishment. For ages the
more disgusting the odor the more
eficaCious it's mission in warding off
contagion, has been the popular belief.
The teacher in the public school, more
unhappy than usual in the discomfort
Of her olfactory sense, will often dis
cover that some self-satisfied pupil has
been fortified against microbes by a
paper bag of onions of a peculiarly
strong and confident brand. If it isn't
onions it may be assafoetida, which is
a shade worse.
Carboic acid is a distinctively un.
prepossessing smell, but in all the dis
infectants thus far devised by the sci
enlist, nothing so horribly noisome as
the now popular formaldehyde has
been given to a long suffering race.
No wonder the microbes do not like
1t. No wonder they kink up in knot
and sneeze themselves to death. The
great marvel is how the scientist is
sure that the friendly microbe, the
microbe that we need in our business
of living, can be induced to stay in the
vicinity of formaldehyde. 1t certainly
should be able to drive away contagion,
and it is not surprising that the spe-
cialists are finding it usasul in con-
sumption cures, by means of lung in
iections. Any bacilli, no matter how
vicious may be his intentions, would
surely be seized with CONSERVATION at
the approach Of that remedy.
So now it will be rather a joke if
after these years Of enduring bad odors
of disinfectants. because they are
healthy, we shall be convinced that all
the time nice cut-glass bottle of con-
centrated extract of violet, gilt
vinaigrette of lavender salts, or a
plentiful supply of heliotrope sachets,
would have been perhaps a little more
valuable in keeping away contagious
disease.
Years and years ago a famous Ital-
ian botanist recommended the plant
ing Of odoriferous trees and shrubs
along crowded sections of great cities,
as the perfume from branch and bios
som would purify the air. 1t is the
rich and almost stupefying odors of
tropical plants, such as tube-roses
orange trees and the night blooming
cereus, which so far to counteract the
miasma of the equatorial marshes and
forests, and how slow and obstinate
we are in taking this hint from ma
ture. We have grubbed up the darling
lilac from our city lawns. Waxen
syringas are seldom seen, and from the
tube rose the ultra supercllious nose
curls in scorn. There is much affecta-
ton in this modern dislike for the
sweet-scented flowers of the old gar
den. Perhaps for our health and COM
fort it would be better if we had less
Sclloi'lNe HOSeS, except IN the case OF
sewer gas and bad plumbing
This advice of the French physician
is interesting, as being rather opposed
to the notions of today which some OF
the faddists would make popular, in
advocating but spare use of perfumes,
for fear of indicating vulgarity of
taste. While it is undoubtedly offens-
i've to the fastidious sense to be almost
overwhelmed by the rank odor Of GER
tain so-called perfumes, there is yet
nothing more delightful to a cultivated
taste which is attracted to the beauti
ful in nature or art, than to catch the
sweet, indefinable fragrance of some
favorite flower as the odor is waited
from person in the vicinity.
We all know the consciousness of
pleasure which we feel when a certain
friend, who dresses much in soft grays
and mauVes, comes near with her at
mosphere of violet too delicately evan
escent to be penetrating or appealing
in it's breath.
We realize a certain satisfaction in
the presence of a fair girl who is much
seen with lilies of the valley at her
belt, and at all times seems to exhale
the sweetness of their purity.
We are similarly pleased at the