easts and woods." He goes on to speak of
the perfume of feminine arms in the ball-room. "There the aroma
is of ammoniated valerian, of chlorinated urine, brutally
accentuated sometimes, even with a slight scent of prussic acid
about it, a faint whiff of overripe peaches." These
"spice-boxes," however, Huysmans continues, are more seductive
when their perfume is filtered through the garments. "The appeal
of the balsam of their arms is then less insolent, less cynical,
than at the ball where they are more naked, but it more easily
uncages the animal in man. Various as the color of the hair, the
odor of the armpit is infinitely divisible; its gamut covers the
whole keyboard of odors, reaching the obstinate scents of syringa
and elder, and sometimes recalling the sweet perfume of the
rubbed fingers that have held a cigarette. Audacious and
sometimes fatiguing in the brunette and the black woman, sharp
and fierce in the red woman, the armpit is heady as some sugared
wines in the blondes." It will be noted that this very exact
description corresponds at various points with the remarks of
more scientific observers.

Sometimes the odor of the armpit may even become a kind of fetich
which is craved for its own sake and in itself suffices to give
pleasure. Fere has recorded such a case, in a friend of his own,
a man of 60, with whom at one time he used to hunt, of robust
health and belonging to a healthy family. On these hunting
expeditions he used to tease the girls and women he met
(sometimes even rather old women) in a surprising manner, when he
came upon them walking in the fields with their short-sleeved
chemises exposed. When he had succeeded in introducing his hand
into the woman's armpit he went away satisfied, and frequently
held the hand to his nose with evident pleasure. After long
hesitation Fere asked for an explanation, which was frankly
given. As a child he had liked the odor, without knowing why. As
a young man women with strong odors had stimulated him to
extraordinary sexual exploits, and now they were the only women
who had any influence on him. He professed to be able to
recognize continence by the odor, as well as the most favorable
moment for approaching a woman. Throughout life a cold in the
head had always been accompanied by persistent general
excitement