lm-mint.
There is reported the case of a young woman, rather robust, otherwise
normal, who always experienced a desire to go to stool after being
subjected to any nasal irritation sufficient to excite sneezing.
It has already been remarked that individuals and animals have their
special odors, certain of which are very agreeable to some people and
extremely unpleasant to others. Many persons are not able to endure the
emanations from cats, rats, mice, etc., and the mere fact of one of
these animals being in their vicinity is enough to provoke distressing
symptoms. Mlle. Contat, the celebrated French actress, was not able to
endure the odor of a hare. Stanislaus, King of Poland and Duke of
Lorraine, found it impossible to tolerate the smell of a cat. The
Ephemerides mentions the odor of a little garden-frog as causing
epilepsy. Ab Heers mentions a similar anomaly, fainting caused by the
smell of eels. Habit had rendered Haller insensible to the odor of
putrefying cadavers, but according to Zimmerman the odor of the
perspiration of old people, not perceptible to others, was intolerable
to him at a distance of ten or twelve paces. He also had an extreme
aversion for cheese. According to Dejan, Gaubius knew a man who was
unable to remain in a room with women, having a great repugnance to the
female odor. Strange as it may seem, some individuals are incapable of
appreciating certain odors. Blumenbach mentions an Englishman whose
sense of smell was otherwise very acute, but he was unable to perceive
the perfume of the mignonette.
The impressions which come to us through the sense of hearing cause
sensations agreeable or disagreeable, but even in this sense we see
marked examples of idiosyncrasies and antipathies to various sounds and
tones. In some individuals the sensations in one ear differ from those
of the other. Everard Home has cited several examples, and Heidmann of
Vienna has treated two musicians, one of whom always perceived in the
affected ear, during damp weather, tones an octave lower than in the
other ear. The other musician perceived tones an octave higher in the
affected ear. Cheyne is quoted as mentioning a case in which, when the
subject heard the noise of a drum, blood jetted from the veins with
considerable force. Sauvages has seen a young man in whom intense
headache and febrile paroxysm were only relieved by the noise from a
beaten drum. Esparron has mentioned an infant in whom an ataxic fever
was
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