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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Anosmic or Hyperosmic People. 



We have often heard of people who are wholly or partially 

 blind to colour; and there are also anosmic people, who have 

 wholly or in part lost the sense of smell ; and there are some 

 people who possess a sharp sense of smell who nevertheless 

 cannot detect some few particular odours. In contrast with the 

 anosmic folks we find a set who are decidedly hyperosmic — they 

 " smell a rat " very quickly, and are often rabid about sewers 

 and other sanitary matters. These acute-nosed people make 

 excellent perfumers, and to their ranks belong the best and 

 most successful buyers of such products as wine, tea, hops, 

 drugs, perfumes, tobacco, coffee, and spices : they form their 

 judgments through the nose just as accurately as do the dealers 

 in jewels and pictures and artistic objects generally by means 

 of their sharp eyes. 



Hyperosmic 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. 



Scientific Neglect of Odour. 



It is curious to note how careful botanists have been to tell 

 us the shapes of leaves and the arrangement and number of 

 sepals, petals, and stamens of flowers ; while in the great 

 majority of cases such vital matters (to the flowers and our- 

 selves) as colour and perfume have been totally ignored. Nowa- 

 days, however, we are all most anxious to know not only what 

 plants are, but more especially what they do, and how they do 

 it. We are beginning to perceive that colour and perfume are 

 quite as essential as are the organs that produce them ; that 



