EDUCATED NOSES 35 
the nose just as accurately as do the dealers in jewels 
and pictures and artistic objects generally by means of 
their sharp eyes. 
Honey gets all its best and most characteristic flavours 
from the various aromatic herbs and flowers on which 
the honey bees feed in various countries or at various 
periods of the year—such as wild Thyme, Heather, Euca- 
lyptus, Sage, Clover, and many other things. Indeed, 
taking a hint from nature, it may, some day, be found 
possible to feed bees on flavoured syrup, and in that 
way obtain any flavour desired. 
HyprERosMIC SKILL OF EXPERTS 
A clever perfumer can readily detect any special 
odour as used in the so-called ‘‘ bouquets” of the scent 
dealers. “To do this he pours out a little of the spirit 
which holds the perfume and rubs it in the palm of his 
open hand. ‘The alcohol evaporates with the warmth, 
and the scent is left comparatively pure. All the 
principal odours, such as violet, rose, jasmine, or musk, 
are easily detected, but an expert will analyse a liquid in 
which three or four perfumes are blended together and 
give the relative proportions of each one used simply by 
this primitive nose test, a fact which shows how perfect 
our senses may and do become when practically educated 
by the help of our brains. 
EpucATED NOosgEs 
Men whose olfactory nerves are so highly developed 
that they can differentiate between odours that the 
uneducated nose cannot discern are employed by chemists, 
tea-importers, and the large wine and liquor firms. A 
perfectly trained nose is of the utmost use in the com- 
pounding of perfumes, and it therefore happens that 
practical chemists should train their sense of smell to a 
