1887. | BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 
to 
lon 
on 
Plant Odors. 
ARTHUR J. STACE. 
In furnishing descriptions of plants to aid the learner in 
identifying them, the odor is an important element, but we 
often find it neglected. The cause of this neglect is mani- 
fold; the poverty of our language in affording names to dis- 
tinctions of odor, and the difficulty of determining what are 
the elementary odors, contributing to it, among other sources 
of embarrassment. The writer’s object is to offer a theory 
imnumerable compounds in a way which will lead to the for- 
mation of a systematic nomenclature. 
_ His theory is this: that, owing to the sympathetic connec- 
tion of the olfactory nerve with the nerves controlling the 
Organs of secretion and excretion, each elementary odor pro- 
duces a specific effect on some one of these organs and may 
be recognized by this effect. : 
hus, it is not only true that the alliaceous odor stimu- 
lates the lachrvmal glands, producing in sensitive persons an 
actual flow of tears, but conversely, if we find any odor that 
80 stimulates the lachrymal glands it is a proof that it contains 
the alliaceous element. : 
tmay be said that the odor of wood-smoke excites the 
lachrymals, although it is not alliaceous ; butit is not the odor 
of the smoke ; it is theimpact of particles of the smoke upon 
the eyeball that does it. Protect the eyes effectually against 
rh smoke and no such effect will be perceived from the mere 
Odor, 
Pe Beas earh( t=2 5 
Again, it may be said that the lachrymals may be excited 
by any odor that brings pathetic incidents to mind. The 
Odor of sweet basil, for instance, recalling the affecting tale 
ot **a pot of sweet basil,’ may make some sentimental young 
lady weep. But we are not concerned with the effects of 
“ssociation, where the nervous system is reached through 
the mind, but speak only of the direct, physical effect of 
dors. No one ever attributed pathos to an onion. aes 
or another example, the odor which excites the salivary 
glands is the parsley odor, an element common to the whole 
