[54] Professor Plateau, of Ghent, has for many years carried on a series of experiments which would even tend to show that insects are scarcely attracted by the colors of flowers at all, but mainly influenced by a sense which would appear to be smell. His experiments have been recorded during recent years (from 1887) in the _Bulletins de l'Académie Royale de Belgique_, and have from time to time been summarized in _Nature_, e.g., February 5, 1903. [55] David Sharp, _Cambridge Natural History: Insects_, Part II, p. 398. [56] Mantegazza, _Fisiologia dell' Amore_, 1873, p. 176. [57] Mantegazza (_L'Amour dans l'Humanité_, p. 94) refers to various peoples who practice this last custom. Egypt was a great centre of the practice more than 3000 years ago. [58] Hagen, _Sexuelle Osphrésiologie_, 1901, p. 226. It has been suggested to me by a medical correspondent that one of the primitive objects of the hair, alike on head, mons veneris, and axilla, was to collect sweat and heighten its odor to sexual ends. [59] The names of all our chief perfumes are Arabic or Persian: civet, musk, ambergris, attar, camphor, etc. [60] Cloquet (_Osphrésiologie_, pp. 73-76) has an interesting passage on the prevalence of the musk odor in animals, plants, and even mineral substances. [61] Laycock brings together various instances of the sexual odors of animals, insisting on their musky character (_Nervous Diseases of Women_; section, "Odors"). See also a section in the _Descent of Man_ (Part II, Chapter XVIII), in which Darwin argues that "the most odoriferous males are the most successful in winning the females." Distant also has an interesting paper on this subject, "Biological Suggestions," _Zoölogist_, May, 1902; he points out the significant fact that musky odors are usually confined to the male, and argues that animal odors generally are more often attractive than protective. [62] R. Whytt, _Works_, 1768, p. 543. [63] Lucretius, VI, 790-5. [64] Mohammed, said Ayesha, was very fond of perfumes, especially "men's scents," musk and ambergris. He used also to burn camphor on odoriferous wood and enjoy the fragrant smell, while he never refused perfumes when offered them as a present. The things he cared for most, said Ayesha, were women, scents, and foods. Muir, _Life of Mahomet_, vol. iii, p. 297. [65] H. ten Kate, _International Centralblatt für Anthropologie_, Ht. 6, 1902. This author, who made observations on Japanese with Zwaardemaker's olfactometer, found that, contrary to an opinion sometimes stated, they have a somewhat defective sense of smell. He remarks that there are no really native Japanese perfumes. [66] Moll: _Die Konträre Sexualempfindung_, third edition, 1890, p. 306. [67] Moll: _Libido Sexualis_, bd. 1, p. 284. [68] P. Näcke, "Un Cas de Fetichisme de Souliers," _Bulletin de la Société de Médecine Mentale de Belgique_, 1894. [69] _Psychopathia Sexualis_, English edition, p. 167.