Rutherford (_Nature_, August
11, 1892, p. 343), attaching importance to the evidence brought
forward by von Brunn showing that the olfactory cells terminate
in very delicate short hairs, also stated his belief that the
different qualities of smell result from differences in the
frequency and form of the vibrations initiated by the action of
the chemical molecules on these olfactory cells, though he
admitted that such a conception involved a very subtle conception
of molecular vibration. Vaschide and Van Melle (Paris Academy of
Sciences, December 26, 1899) have, again, argued that smell is
produced by rays of short wave-lengths, analogous to light-rays,
Roentgen rays, etc. Chemical action is however, a very important
factor in the production of odors; this has been well shown by
Ayrton (_Nature_, September 8, 1898). We seem to be forced in the
direction of a chemico-vibratory theory, as pointed out by
Southerden (_Nature_, March 26, 1903), the olfactory cells being
directly stimulated, not by the ordinary vibrations of the
molecules, but by the agitations accompanying chemical changes.
The vibratory hypothesis of the action of odors has had some
influence on the recent physiologists who have chiefly occupied
themselves with olfaction.
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