SEPTEMBER 20, 1918] 
In making the tests, an A flower cluster that 
was fragrant to me was used in contrast with 
a B flower cluster that was adjudged fragrant 
by Mr. Avery or by one who had been found to 
react to it in the same manner in which he did. 
The person to be tested was asked to decide 
which of the two was the more fragrant. 
There was an amusing uniformity in the man- 
ner of response. The subject would generally 
say he feared he was not smelling well that 
day, would then blow his nose and almost 
at once pick out either A or B and wonder 
how any one could think the other fragrant. 
When questioned as to fragrance in the 
flowers that were not preferred, he would 
generally say they were not fragrant but 
had a slight odor variously described as being 
a plant odor or an odor like a dead leaf. 
The pleasure obtained from odors is often 
closely bound up with other associated percep- 
tions. For this reason, in some cases the in- 
dividuals tested were asked to smell the flowers 
with their eyes closed. Color associations were 
shown to have no controlling influence in the 
reaction. In some instances the tests were re- 
peated but without affecting the results. 
Of the men, 17 preferred the flowers’ of A 
while 9 preferred those of B—a ratio of 2 to 1. 
Of the women, 9 preferred A while 4 preferred 
B. In general the results were clear-cut and 
the individuals tested found fragrance in one 
of the two flowers and not in the other. A 
few, however, found a slight fragrance in the 
flowers that they did not prefer and two women 
found fragrance in both and could not decide 
between them. 
Flowers from the two plants were exhibited 
at a staff meeting of the Carnegie Station and 
were repeatedly smelled by the seven members 
present. Five found fragrance in A and not in 
B and two showed a reversed reaction. 
It is a trite proverb that in matters of taste 
there can be no argument. The assumption is 
that though we differ in our preferences, our 
perceptions are essentially the same. In the 
ease of the verbena flowers under discussion, 
however, it has been shown that preferences of 
different individuals in regard to fragrance are 
based upon radical differences in their percep- 
SCIENCE 
299 
tion of odors. The condition suggests color- 
blindness, but those who are color-blind react 
to both of two colors when they are unable to 
distinguish between them. About two thirds 
of the individuals tested with the verbena 
flowers were “blind” to odors in the flowers of 
plant B while perceiving odors in A. On the 
other hand, about one third were “blind” to 
odors in A while perceiving odors in B. It is 
as if my black looked white and my white, 
black to Mr. Avery and his group; while from 
his viewpoint, I and the group that agreed 
with me were equally distorted in our vision. 
It is well known that people differ consider- 
ably in their ability to hear tones of higher 
musical pitch. Many can not hear the notes 
of the cricket. Other insects produce sound 
vibrations of so high a pitch that they are 
inaudible to any human ear, though perceived 
by related insects. The peculiarity in the per- 
ception of the verbena fragrance might re- 
semble the individual peculiarities in the 
powers of hearing if it were true that a large 
group of people could hear the extremely high 
musical notes and not the lowest tones while 
another group could hear the lowest and not 
the highest. 
The acts brought out in the foregoing dis- 
cussion furnish an added example of the diffi- 
culty in classifying characters studied in in- 
heritance. A group of different individuals in 
investigating fragrance in our pedigree of ver- 
benas would be classifying their own olfactory 
perceptions as well as the actual odors in the 
flowers. It is well for us to recognize the 
limitations of the personal equation. Discrep- 
ancies in conclusions reached by different in- 
vestigators may not be due to any fault in 
logical reasoning or to lack of intellectual hon- 
esty. Their diverse conclusions may be in- 
evitable, given only differences in their sensory 
reactions and in their mental experience. 
A. F. BLAKESLEE 
CARNEGIE STATION FOR EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION 
THE WHITE-SPOT DISEASE OF ALFALFA 
For a number of years the writer has ob- 
served the white-spot disease of alfalfa, par- 
