Human Odors

Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine
by George M. Gould, M.D., Walter L. Pyle, M.D.

(Page 16 of 50)

Curious as it may seem, each individual as well as each species is in life enveloped with an odor peculiarly its own, due to its exhaled breath, its excretions, and principally to its insensible perspiration. The faculty of recognizing an odor in different individuals, although more developed in savage tribes, is by no means unknown in civilized society. Fournier quotes the instance of a young man who, like a dog, could smell the enemy by scent, and who by smell alone recognized his own wife from other persons.

Fournier also mentions a French woman, an inhabitant of Naples, who had an extreme supersensitiveness of smell. The slightest odor was to her intolerable; sometimes she could not tolerate the presence of certain individuals. She could tell in a numerous circle which women were menstruating. This woman could not sleep in a bed which any one else had made, and for this reason discharged her maid, preparing her own toilet and her sleeping apartments. Cadet de Gassieourt witnessed this peculiar instance, and in consultation with several of the physicians of Paris attributed this excessive sensitiveness to the climate. There is a tale told of a Hungarian monk who affirmed that he was able to decide the chastity of females by the sense of smell alone. It is well known that some savage tribes with their large, open nostrils not only recognize their enemies but also track game the same as hounds.

Individual Odors. Many individuals are said to have exhaled particularly strong odors, and history is full of such instances. We are told by Plutarch that Alexander the Great exhaled an odor similar to that of violet flowers, and his undergarments always smelled of this natural perfume. It is said that Cujas offered a particular analogy to this. On the contrary, there are certain persons spoken of who exhaled a sulphurous odor. Martial said that Thais was an example of the class of people whose odor was insupportable. Schmidt has inserted in the Ephemerides an account of a journeyman saddler, twenty-three years of age, of rather robust constitution, whose hands exhaled a smell of sulphur so powerful and penetrating as to rapidly fill any room in which he happened to be. Rayer was once consulted by a valet-de-chambre who could never keep a place in consequence of the odor he left behind him in the rooms in which he worked.

Hammond is quoted with saying that when the blessed Venturni of Bergamons officiated at the altar people struggled to come near him in order to enjoy the odor he exhaled. It was said that St. Francis de Paul, after he had subjected himself to frequent disciplinary inflictions, including a fast of thirty-eight to forty days, exhaled a most sensible and delicious odor. Hammond attributes the peculiar odors of the saints of earlier days to neglect of washing and, in a measure, to affections of the nervous system. It may be added that these odors were augmented by aromatics, incense, etc., artificially applied. In more modern times Malherbe and Haller were said to diffuse from their bodies the agreeable odor of musk. These "human flowers," to use Goethe's expression, are more highly perfumed in Southern latitudes.

Modifying Causes. According to Brieude, sex, age, climate, habits, ailments, the passions, the emotions, and the occupations modify the difference in the humors exhaled, resulting in necessarily different odors. Nursing infants have a peculiar sourish smell, caused by the butyric acid of the milk, while bottle-fed children smell like strong butter. After being weaned the odors of the babies become less decided. Boys when they reach puberty exhibit peculiar odors which are similar to those of animals when in heat. These odors are leading symptoms of what Borden calls "seminal fever" and are more strongly marked in those of a voluptuous nature. They are said to be caused by the absorption of spermatic fluid into the circulation and its subsequent elimination by the skin. This peculiar circumstance, however, is not seen in girls, in whom menstruation is sometimes to be distinguished by an odor somewhat similar to that of leather. Old age produces an odor similar to that of dry leaves, and there have been persons who declared that they could tell approximately the age of individuals by the sense of smell.

Certain tribes and races of people have characteristic odors. Negroes have a rank ammoniacal odor, unmitigated by cleanliness; according to Pruner-Bey it is due to a volatile oil set free by the sebaceous follicles. The Esquimaux and Greenlanders have the odors of their greasy and oily foods, and it is said that the Cossacks, who live much with their horses, and who are principally vegetarians, will leave the atmosphere charged with odors several hours after their passage in numbers through a neighborhood. The lower race of Chinamen are distinguished by a peculiar musty odor, which may be noticed in the laundry shops of this country. Some people, such as the low grade of Indians, have odors, not distinctive, and solely due to the filth of their persons. Food and drink, as have been mentioned, markedly influence the odor of an individual, and those perpetually addicted to a special diet or drink have a particular odor.

Odor after Coitus. Preismann in 1877 makes the statement that for six hours after coitus there is a peculiar odor noticeable in the breath, owing to a peculiar secretion of the buccal glands. He says that this odor is most perceptible in men of about thirty-five, and can be discerned at a distance of from four to six feet. He also adds that this fact would be of great medicolegal value in the early arrest of those charged with rape. In this connection the analogy of the breath immediately after coitus to the odor of chloroform has been mentioned. The same article states that after coitus naturally foul breath becomes sweet.

The emotions are said to have a decided influence on the odor of an individual. Gambrini, quoted by Monin, mentions a young man, unfortunate in love and violently jealous, whose whole body exhaled a sickening, pernicious, and fetid odor. Orteschi met a young lady who, without any possibility of fraud, exhaled the strong odor of vanilla from the commissures of her fingers.

Rayer speaks of a woman under his care at the Hopital de la Charite affected with chronic peritonitis, who some time before her death exhaled a very decided odor of musk. The smell had been noticed several days, but was thought to be due to a bag of musk put purposely into the bed to overpower other bad smells. The woman, however, gave full assurance that she had no kind of perfume about her and that her clothes had been frequently changed. The odor of musk in this case was very perceptible on the arms and other portions of the body, but did not become more powerful by friction. After continuing for about eight days it grew fainter and nearly vanished before the patient's death. Speranza relates a similar case.