142 
JOURNAL OP THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Anosmic oe Hypeeosmic 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. 
Hypeeosmic Skill of Expeets. 
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 Odoue. 
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 
