inability to smell

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From: Lou Morton (stf-lmorton@vom.com)
Date: Thu Feb 17 2000 - 12:41:45 PST 

Message-ID: <38AC5D08.F8FC0A1@vom.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 12:41:45 -0800
From: Lou Morton <stf-lmorton@vom.com>
Subject: inability to smell

Pinholers,
I took several entomology classes in college and one thing I noticed is
that the cyanide crystals we used in the kill jars were easily and
frequently very offensive to most classmates and a few like myself could
barely detect the odor and only if it was very close. If I could smell
it I was too close! Later I heard or read that cyanide is a chemical
that not all people sense equally; kind of like the PTC paper demo in a
biology class.
Anyone out there be able to confirm or doubt my recollection? I can
imagine you would have a hard time convincing your administrator that
having the students sniff cyanide crystals would be a good test for
anosmia ;-)
Lou Morton
stf-lmorton@vom.com

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