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The San Francisco Sunday Call
The Effect of Perfumes Upon the Body
and Mind
THE beautiful women of the east
have given much time and
thought to the bewildering art
of perfumery, knowing well the
effects of various scents and perfumes
upon the mind and the senses, but we
practical occidentals, in comparison,
have neglected this branch of knowl
edge, this art, this pleasure, most
shamefully.
In the sacred temples of the east we
find the wondrous incense burning upon
the altars of the gods, sending up
clouds of fine, heavily scented essence,
delighting the senses and giving a cer
tain mystic atmosphere to the place
which is unattainable in any other way.
The heavily laden air bewitches the
imagination, intoxicates the soul, ele
vates the mind and refreshes the body.
In the same manner why should we not
study perfumes and incenses and their
effects upon the body and mind, since
they are capable of such infinite prom
ise? There is a field here for study
and experiment, and at the same time
exquisite pleasure.
When we walk through a garden the
atmosphere of which is heavily laden
with the scent of flowers we can not
but inhale deep, deep breaths, full of
delight, and breathe in the subtle fra
ffsrance till it reaches our very soul.
TDf all our senses none is capable of
giving us more enjoyment than that of
smelt And none of them have we so
neglected, almost even perverted, as
the sense of smell. It should be "a
thing of beauty and a joy forever" —
wherever we go, wherever we breathe
and if we took the pains to perfume
our rooms and convert noxious odors
into sweet fragrance we should all be
far happier, healthier and better in
mind and body.
Effect of Perfume.
Perfume doubtless has a great effect
upon the mere animal spirits. When
we smell a beautiful flower we breathe
deeply, we expand the chest, we inhale;
our whole being expands with delight.
This in itself is beneficial, for we are
all apt to underbreathe. If the air
about us were more sweet smelling
than it is we should be tempted to
breathe more deeply all the time as a
matter of habit, and this would expand
the lungs, bring them into great activ
ity, and thus prevent many of the dis
eases of the lungs. We must not for
get also that the taste of food is al
most entirely a matter of smell, and it
■ fact that food which does not smell
tvpetizing is not so good for us as
thin which does.
There are only four real tastes:
Swsst. salt sour and bitter. The taste
OF INTEREST MAID AND MATRON
buds in the mouth furnish only these
four sensations directly to us. All the
other extra flavors, as it were, we smell.
So long as we do not breathe we can
not do justice to .and taste fully the
most delicious of foods. Smell is every
thing; it is the real source of enjoy
ment in eating and a gift bestowed
upon us for which we should be grate
ful. It should play a large part also
in our breathing; we should make that
a pleasure instead of a mere habit.
The air we breathe should contain a
certain quantity of perfume, if not from
flowers, then from some more artificial
source. Of course, it is possible to
overdo a good thing, and make the air
so heavy with scent that it becomes
sickening. This should never be done,
especially at night. We must not for
get the story of the eastern potentate
who had one of his subjects suffo
cated by placing him in a room con
taining so many roses that the unfortu
nate man died from the oppressively
heavy odor.
What memories crowd in upon the
mind, for instance, when we inhale the
fragrance of violet perfume! Does not
lilac bring back springtime at its
sweetest—"the time, the place and the
rhaV'—as a vivid flash of memory? The
musk revives in us long sleeping mem
ories of our grandmother, when in
childhood we sorted her brocade, ar
ranged her laces, turned out old boxes
in the attic, full of good things and
"treasures" of all sorts, long since for
gotten! Lavender, too, reminds us of
many friends we have known—of "lav
ender and old lace." Patchouli brings
before the mind the days of George
IV—a glimpse of gay court life flashes
across the mind, with its powdered
wigs, its black beauty patches, its gay
ety and revelry. These differ, of
course, with individuals; but surely all
perfumes bring back certain memories
and arouse certain emotions in all of
us!
Are Hygienic and Wholesome
And there is a scientific reason for
this. The olfactory nerve is so inti
mately connected with the brain that
Doctor Holmes stated that "it is not
a nerve at all, but a part of the brain,
in intimate connection with its anterior
lobes." This close affiliation with the
thinking substance—with thought it
self—may account for the power it ex
ercises over the emotions, and also for
the fact that familiar odors sitmulate
memory more than sensations of taste
or touch.
The Persians and the Egyptians were
certainly aware of the power and
beauty of the most exquisite perfumes,
for we read that the sails on Cleopat
ra's barge were fragrant as it—
"Burn'd on the water—the poop was
beaten gold;
Purple the sails, and so perfumed that
The winds were lovesick with them."
In Nineveh, Babylon, Greece and
Rome perfumes were used extensively.
Hippocrates and Galen both prescribed
them for their sick patients. Arabia is
known as a land of Incense and per
fume loving inhabitants.
The late Queen Victoria is said to
have been particularly impressed with
the wholesome effects of cinnamon and
she took it in some form or other daily.
It is Said that the Sultan Saladin when
making his triumphal entry intp Con
stantinople in 1157 had the walls of the
mosque of Omar washed with rose
water. Queen Elizabeth was extrava
gantly fond of perfumes and always
had a large number of them on hand.
At the present day a wide variety of
choice and taste is manifest, but violet
in one form or another seems to be
ever popular and is constantly in use
by all the leading society women of
our day.
The strange psychological effect of
various perfumes and of the many
kinds of Incense is a question still to
be studied and investigated. There is
evidence that the fakirs and magicians
in the east utilize this means t*j bewil
der the senses of those beholding their
feats of magic, for we seldom hear of a
magician who does not employ incense
for at least some of his Illusions. The
necromancer who caused Gellini to be
hold "a troupe of devils'* resorted to
this device, and so do the Hindu magi
clans who cause the spectators to be
lieve that they see various things
which they do not see.
This is a subject which, deserves to
be carefully worked out some day by
skilled physiologists and psychologists.
Meanwhile women are quite right in
manifesting their liking for perfumes;
they are hygienic and wholesome, and
it would be a good thing if they were
employed more extensively than they
are.
Now Utilized in Surgery
The potent effect of perfume upon
the senses and the mind is now being
utilized in surgery. The administering
of the anesthetic has qeen one of the
incidents of surgical operations most
dreaded by many persons. By the use
of a compound of ether and elixir of
orange peel it is said that the anes
thetic can be robbed of half its terror.
The fact that it is the vaporized essence
of orange and a mere perfume may pro
duce such an effect upon the mind of
the patient that partial hypnosis will
result, and in this condition the patient
will lapse into unconsciousness without
the struggling that usually attends the
administering of ether.
The mixture is administered by
means of a special apparatus having
three bottles, one holding a two gram
essence of orange in two ounces of
water, another a weak solution of ether
and the third a strong solution of it.
The liquids are vaporized with a foot
pump and are discharged into a large,
rubber bag which regulates the force
of the flow.
This new anesthetic, which has been
successfully used in several cases, is
the result of experiments carried on
for several years by an eminent physi
cian of New York in the effort to de
termine the availability of perfumes
and odors as aids to effective anestheti
zation. Surely, if the sickening odor
of the ether can be lost in one of
sweet perfume a great gain will have
been made in diminishing the dread of
surgical ordeals. H. C.
Has the Clinging Vine Wife Gone Out of Fashion?
From One Who Was ,
Alice Radcllffe, General Delivery, San
Francisco
Once I was "A Clinging Vine." I
think my husband thought he'd like
that variety—till he got one. At first
he didn't notice my clinging—except
to feel flattered. Hourly I encroached
upon his time, his privacy and busi
ness Interests. I had always done that
with my mother. I had never chosen
a dress or hat without her sanction.
It was merely a co-incidence that I
admired the man she did. He asked
me to be his wife; my mother em
phasized her liking—mine followed.
All my life things had been decided
for me. This is an inane chronicle.
It will have to stand. Why? Because,
I can not vary the monotony by telling
you what it was that caused me to
change. Suffice it that I relate con
ditions. My husband was at first flat
tered by my clinging, which was soon
succeeded by some surprise—later by
annoyance, and finally he was tor
mented to the extent of fleeing my
presence on every available occasion.
We were divorced without legal
tactics. We no longer had aught in
common. If you can't eliminate a pest,
you avoid its locality. My husband did
likewise. I wept, moaned and rushed
after him—as is the way of pests.
He shut his teeth and sped away—
as does the pursued.
"He doesn't love me!" I thought. Lots
of men are "taken in," as he was.
.They fool themselves. I know that
now. Ii took a woman to open my
eyes, too. She is not a dinger. She
was a schoolmate of my husband's at
one time. She truly loved him; in all
probability he would have married
her before he met me. She was all
that I was not One day I said to
my husband, "Why didn't you marry
Mary? She might have suited you
better." I was unprepared for hit
answer. Here it is: "I loved you more
than any woman in this world when
X asked you to be my wife. If you
The Lure of The Auction Room
Uf f it were not for the women," said '
I an experienced auctioneer, "the
I snap would be entirely out of my
business. They've not only made
the buying by auction of furniture, rugs,
paintings, bric-a-brac, Jewelry and lace
the fashion, but they've inspired auc
tioneers with ideals of veracity never
before held. This is because they have
become shrewd judges of all objects of
value, and have in their heads stan
dards of merit that the successful auc
tioneer does not care to overlook. They
do three-fourths of the buying at all
notable auctions."
"I thought," interrupted the listener,
"that women always ran up bids
against themselves and invariably took
home from an auction the things they
didn't want."
"That condition prevailed some years
ago," he replied, "before auction going
became a fad and before American
women spent as much money as they
do now on the interior decoration of
their homes. The auction business be
gins to get in full swing in September
and continues at a lively pace through
to May, each month giving some spe
cial sort of entertainment to the buy
ers. Usually September and October are
months when household necessities take
the lead of other articles. Then every
thing pertaining to a happy home life,
from a piano to a tireless stove, can
be found in some one of the numerous
auction rooms of the city. These are
months when the people living in
apartments and rented houses are
changing from one place to another,
with the invariable result that new
things must be bought to fill new
spaces.
"Carpets, rugs, hangings, even bed
linen and towels, find ready bidders
among housewives, who know to the
fraction of a cent the prices that simi
lar articles command in reliable shops.
They add as well to their possessions
good furniture, silver ware, china and
glass, besides a long list of ornaments.
"With the coming of November a
class of articles is brought forward es
pecially adaptable for Christmas and
wedding presents. St. Nicholas him
self would be amazed at the number of
gifts that are bought by auction to
celebrate his busy day. As for wedding
presents, no stigma now attaches to the
gift bought by auction. It is rather
regarded as an honor if one says: *My
little remembrance was picked up at
the sale of such and such a collection.' "
Exquisite mirrors, In carved frames
of either Louis XV* or colonial design,
decorate various auction rooms prior to
Christmas; beautiful work stands, tea
wagons, choice cabinets. Sevres vases,
rugs from Persia, decanters that appeal
to the hospitable, besides a hetero
geneous collection of wares, are then
put up, one after the other, to await
the highest bid of an eager gathering.
The average woman bidder gauges an
article quickly, knowing at once
whether it would be of service to her or
whether there is some one on her list
to whom it would be appropriate for
either a Christmas or a wedding gift
Probably before attending the sale she
has made a tour of most of the auction
rooms, inspected their offerings and
marked the catalogues with the last
price that she will bfd on each object.
When outbid, therefore, she shows no
disappointment, being well aware that
on the morrow she will have at another
auction an opportunity to get an article
persist in strangling that love by
making me do your thinking for you
I'll end in wishing you possessed a
few of Mary's sterling qualities." I
was taken off my feet. Perhaps he
didn't know that he wouldn't like me,
till after he married and became
really acquainted with me. I was
thinking in earnest at last I just
couldn't lose Jim—he was now more
than a habit More than a mother's
decision. I must make Jim love me
again—at any cost to myself. I went
to Mary and told her and asked her
to advise me, while crying. She
promised to help me and not to tell.
She kept her word. She doesn't let me
cling to her. She exhorts against it
continually. She says Jim's folks,
weren't dingers. That while my un
selfish ways attract him ("feminine
charm" is the way Mary put it).
I can only hold him by being sweet,
strong and sensible—by being as ready
to give advice as to seek it, and not
to run to him with little things out
side his province—unless he worries
me with the details of his downtown
business affairs.
Now, how could he help marrying
Mary? I'm not one-half as wise as
she. Is she an "oak offshoot?" I
hope not She is my dearest friend.
Through her my home is saved from
discord—lf not worse. She was mar
ried recently. She won't have to ask
any one how to hold her husband's
love. She knows how. I try not to
be a dinger—too much. Mary and the
Symposium would make any dinger
see where she stands. I've left out
family eruptions, purposely, too. They
would cure the dingers—the story of
those one sided rows (my side), but
I can't be expected to write how
nearly sundered were my dear Jim and
I, can I?
Let *Er Cling!
By Josephine
Let 'er cling and change the subject
We are just as much in the dark about
it as when we started. One man wants
a dinger and another man doesn't.
"Yer pays yer money and yer takes
yer choice,** so "what's the bodds as
long as yer 'appy?"
"To Cling or Not to Cling" would
make a story of many chapters for the
Fireside Companion, and still we would
choose our life companions as we felt
like it, so, dear editor, forget it, please.
• similar to the one she lias just lost.
Although there is no cut and dried
rule that covers the situation, and
although auctions are largely a mat
ter of unexpected circumstances, it is
generally in January and February
that the most artistic and costly ar
ticles are to be found in the auction
rooms. The Christmas rush has then
subsided, and many of the cleverest
women in town find amusement in fre
quenting the auction sales. Automo
biles and carriages of prominent
women stand before the auction doers
by the hour, while their stay in front
of a reception awning Is only from
15 to 20 minutes. When once the auc
tion mania has taken hold,of a woman
It seems as if she gets no end of en
joyment out of seeing things put up,
bid on and knocked down. She likes
the excitement and the uncertainty of
the game.
But up to date women bid with dis
cretion, seldom permitting dealers or
employes of the auction rooms to assist
them in the matter. The uninitiated
have small chance to follow their do
ings. In one aisle a woman lifts her
eyeglass to raise a bid; directly oppo
site to her an intimate friend drops an
eyelash, while not far away one equally
determined moves her finger as if to
adjust a neckpin. It takes practiced
watching to follow the bids of these
women.
They themselves are observant. The
regular autiongoers know by sight all
the conspicuous dealers in the articles
they intend to purchase. Some women
make a practice of watching the deal
ers and then offering just one bid after
these men have left off. They believe
that by so doing they have a chance
to get the articles at a bargain. A
dealer stops bidding considerably short
of the price with which he would
mark the article to appear in his shop..
Frequently the plaint is heard by a
woman whose courage has given out as
the bids for some wished for article
On American Women as Non-
CHngers
Dorothy M. Houston, General Delivery,
San Francisco
In Europe women work. They work
harder there than elsewhere. In every
conceivable place they work The men
are not scandalized by this condition.
Why should they be? They can't get
suffrage, either, and they have made it
very plain to their lords and masters
that they mean to have it. As to tak
ing It easy, the women of the leisure
classes have that opportunity, that's
all. They refuse to black their hus- ;
bands' shoes after living a while In
America. Europe has more mummies,
cobwebs and decayed . houses—which
are given the name of "historic
ruins"—than we have. If we have
Rockefeller, they have the Roths
childs. What's the difference? They
have, according to the age of their
country, their quojta of Illustrious
dead. So have we. They have some '■
brilliant men and women in the world
today; we can compare on the live
issues; that's what counts. What are '
you? Not who were your ancestors?
Let them rest in peace.
Our men appreciate works of art.
Indeed, they pay good American money
for a lot of "stuff" yearly, brought .
over from Europe to gather dust here. .
Why do those art lovers take our
money in exchange? Because they love
money more. Why do they marry rich
Americans instead of poor ones when
they have a title to trade?
My acquaintance with Europeans
leads to the conclusion that all things
being equal their wives work harder :
than do American women in same cir
cumstances. Their husbands are not
at all shocked, but look on the con
dition as a very satisfactory one and
are fighting any cause that may lead
to the emancipation their women de
sire so ardently. When our country
is as old and some of our "old families"
as impoverished, we, too, may have -
green mold, artistic appreciation of
climbed higher that she later regretted
her weakness and sought the lost
treasure in the shop of the dealer to
whoni it was knocked down. But to
get it there would have required a
third, if not half again, as much money
as It had brdught under** the hammer.
Sometimes these articles knocked
down by auction will be sold and re
sold several times before reaching a
home or a place where they are kept
on sale for any length of time. Women
have declared the quest of these "lost
bargains" to be extremely fascinating.
A few even aver that after a season
of auction going the buying of things
in the regular way becomes extremely
boresome.
The highly interesting auctions and
those which bring out the most fash
ionable women are those where private
collections of art objects are offered
for sale. To offer an extraordinary
collection at auction is not now the
risk that it was some years ago, when
financial loss was inevitable.
At these high class auctions are seen
the women who specialize in certain
styles of artistic things. One woman
Is invariably on hand when fine pieces
of Adams furniture are sold, and her
Judgment in gauging their value equals
that of the shrewdest dealers. Her se-
lections each time that she bids are on
a higher plane than the last, and for
every new piece she buys one of her old
and less valuable ones is sold. In this
way the standard of her collections is
steadily increased.
Other women haunt the auctions at
which Japanese objects are sold. They
bid on everything that, suits their
fancy, from spaniels to teakwood sofas;
from castoff robes of maiftarins to
dwarf trees in little saucers. Few
women go in for rug collecting, al
though they are favorite wares among
the auctioneers. Their husbands and
dealers are the chief bidders at such
sales.
To supply many of the notable auc
tions old palaces of Europe are stripped
of their tapestries and hangings, cathe
drals are shorn of their vestments and
mummified deities; but let us be thank
ful, it is not in our day. We've got
too little money, most of us, and we
all of us want more. Enough of it
will buy all the old rubbish any coun
try possesses—enough of it, I said. It
does not detract from a woman's spirit
uality that she is wealthy. It does not
detract from her morality that she is
poor in purse. It is easier to be the
latter, if you possess enough of the
former. "The clinging vine" needs""
more money to keep her in that state
than does her less dependent sister.
Yea, verily. As Mr. Riley so aptly
said, otherwise she's apt to get "rubbed
in the dust. . Here's to the helpmate,
the nonclinger. May her shadow never
grow less." If Mr. Riley has any
more thoughts similar to his prize
winner we'd like to hear again from
him.
Women Props, Not Clinging
Vines
Blols Felicia El den, 1405 Grant Street,
Berkeley
Is it natural for a woman to be a
clinging vine?
To a certain extent it is natural for
a woman to cling to her husband, for
every lovable woman desires to be pro
tected and loved by her husband. And,
does not almost every unmarried
woman wish that she had a man? Yes,
and some of them pray for husbands,
too. For them man is spelled not with
a little, insignificant m, but with a big
capital M. That man love is a natural
love. Woman needs man; man nseds
woman. Thaf mutual love is deeply
rooted in the natures of both sexes.
A woman should not be just a cling
ing wife. Her own individuality must
not be-submerged by j the whims of a
mere man. Her individuality is Just as
important as a man's. Both are needed
in the making of the race. Both should
be capable, strong charactered and able
to assert their own individualities. So
a woman should be a prop to the man
she loves and encourage him to achieve
high aspirations. She should uphold
that which is good and hold down the
worst that is In man. For <no nation
can progress faster than the feet of
its women are climbing the. path of
progress. And, 'tis woman's God given
duty to guard the future of our race.
embroideries, and individuals are in
duced to part with their household
goods. The supply still continues. Often
articles are placed on sale in the auc
tion room that could not be found else
where.
While the standard of many auctions
has been elevated to satisfy a highly
knowing public, it is true that there are
still many which prove other than satis
factory to the average bidder. At such
places articles are offered for sale, ap
pearing well under electric lights, which
in realityare in bad repair, poor in make,
and could not be disposed of again for
half of the price paid under the hammer.
The majority of women therefore exam
ine the articles on which they desire to
bid" prior to the sale, a practice that is
urged emphatically.
Moths and obnoxious insect life have
sometimes been taken in homes with
articles bought at sales. One should be
careful not to bid on objects that can
carry disease or pests in any form. The
arguments pro and con of women auc
tiongoers are varied and unique.
Nor is it only at sales of furniture
and art objects that women have shown
their skill as bidders. At a sale of realty
where 700 lots fell under the hammer, a
sale which made history in the real es
tate field of the city, women entered the
competition with men. and in many
cases came off victor. They showed a
fine business sense concerning the loca
tion and speculative prospects of the
properties they purchased. One bought
early a lot which she shortly resold at
a profit of $250. She then bought an
other and made $500 on it during the
next week.
"I did not sit through that sale with
out my luncheon or even a glass of
water merely for fun," she exclaimed
when congratulated.
The women who make the most gen
eral mistake in buying at sales are
those who purchase all sorts and con
ditions of things because they regard
them as cheap, and then try to arrange
them harmoniously in their homes.
Houses or apartments furnished in this
way are seldom attractive.
Most of Us Cling at Times
Sirs. T. J. Maas, 2027 Greenwich Street,
San Francisco
So long as the natures of men vary,
so long will there exist wives of every
degree of both the clinging vine and
the independent variety. The bride be
longs to neither type. She is in a
mellow, receptive mood, ready, yes
eager, to accept her husband as a leader,
wherever he shall prove his judgment
superior to her own. Should she fol
low under other conditions, she would
be untrue to herself. Here is when
love and tact should teach, whether it
is better to cling or support. Most of
us do both.
Wise is the woman who confidently
expects part of her ideal to prove only
clay, but it Is the same familiar clay,
which she knows constitutes at least
part of herself.
The period of adjustment in the lives
of a young married couple is of vast
importance. The future happiness and
permanency of the home rests in the
ability of both to give and accept help.
Ruskin tells us the ideal man will
maintain, advance and protect the home,
while the ideal woman will order, com
fort and beautify the same. We know
ourselves far from the ideal and can
only cultivate the attributes of the
ideal to the extent of our capacity, but
we can accept the best that our life
Dartneis offer in the way of making up
for our own deficiency.
For instance, if he supplies himself
with foolish. Inadequate socks, which
refuse to be kept in repair, she can
laughingly say, 'How like a man; what
do they know of such things!" and buy
him the proper kind. He will pat him
self on the back and think "maybe
I don't know the kind of a wife to
choose!"
If she buys an extravagant hat, just
because it is becoming and she has th*
money, he will be justified in watching
the purse strings, and after naming a
reasonable sum, asking her to see how
near she can keep to it, when next the
question of hat arises.
To me it seems that only the in
experienced will believe it possible to
make decided statements as to the pop
ularity and permanence of either of
the extreme types under consideration.
Only the woman with a weakling for
a husband will feel the need of stand
ing on an Independent footing, while
the dinging vine must feel convinced
of the absolute infallibility of her lord
and master. Both kinds exist—but sel
dom. *
