Smell seems to be the sense we take most for granted. There are
no galleries displaying smells like paintings, no concertos
written for noses, no special menus of smells created for grand
occasions; yet this is the most direct and basic of our senses.
It helps us keep safe by helping us choose good foods and avoid
those that have gone bad, you need to have smelled a rotten egg
only once to remember how awful it was, sour milk too. Watch an
animal when it checks a new place. Which sense does it use
first? Yes, it samples the SMELLS to decide on safety or danger
(or edibles). Think of fire danger - you will probably hear it
and maybe see it, but I bet you'll SMELL it first. A discussion
of smells leads us to those smells we love, those we hate, those
we don't mind, those that remind us of a certain occasion or
place, .... the list is long. I wonder how it is that some of us
love the smells that others hate. What makes that happen -
scientists are investigating. Doctors are researching those
things that spoil ou