[71] Studies in the Psychology of Sex, vol. iii, “Appendix B, History VIII.”

[72] Sexuelle Osphresiologie, p. 106.

[73] Mantegazza, Fisiologia dell’ Amore, p. 176.

[74] In this connection I may quote the remark of the writer of a thoughtful article in the Journal of Psychological Medicine, 1851:  “The use of scents, especially those allied to the musky, is one of the luxuries of women, and in some constitutions cannot be indulged without some danger to the morals, by the excitement to the ovaria which results.  And although less potent as aphrodisiacs in their action on the sexual system of women than of men, we have reason to think that they cannot be used to excess with impunity by most.”

[75] Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, 1883, p. 5.

[76] Cloquet, Osphresiologie, p. 95.

[77] In Normandy the Chenopodium, it is said, is called “conio,” and in Italy erba connina (con, cunnus), on account of its vulvar odor.  The attraction of dogs to this plant has been noted.  In the same way cats are irresistibly attracted to preparations of valerian because their own urine contains valerianic acid.

[78] Sonnini, Voyage dans la Haute et Basse Egypte, 1799, vol. i. p. 298.

V.

The Evil Effects of Excessive Olfactory Stimulation—­The Symptoms of Vanillism—­The Occasional Dangerous Results of the Odors of Flowers—­Effects of Flowers on the Voice.

The reality of the olfactory influences with which we have been concerned, however slight they may sometimes appear, is shown by the fact that odors, both agreeable and disagreeable, are stimulants, obeying the laws which hold good for stimulants generally.  They whip up the nervous energies momentarily, but in the end, if the excitation is excessive and prolonged, they produce fatigue and exhaustion.  This is clearly shown by Fere’s elaborate experiments on the influences of odors, as compared with other sensory stimulants, on the amount of muscular work performed with the ergograph.[79] Commenting on the remark of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, that “man uses perfumes to impart energy to his passion,” Fere remarks:  “But perfumes cannot keep up the fires which they light.”  Their prolonged use involves fatigue, which is not different from that produced by excessive work, and reproduces all the bodily and psychic accompaniments of excessive work.[80] It is well known that workers in perfumes are apt to suffer from the inhalation of the odors amid which they live.  Dealers in musk are said to be specially liable to precocious dementia.  The symptoms generally experienced by the men and women who work in vanilla factories where the crude fruit is prepared for commerce have often been studied and are well known.  They are due to the inhalation of the scent, which has all the properties of the aromatic aldehydes, and include skin eruptions,[81] general excitement, sleeplessness, headache, excessive menstruation, and irritable bladder.  There is nearly always sexual excitement, which may be very pronounced.[82]