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Ellis, Havelock, 1859-1939

"Sexual Selection In Man"

I have
elsewhere in these "Studies"[71] recorded the case of a lady, entirely
normal in sexual and other respects, who is conscious of a considerable
degree of pleasurable sexual excitement in the presence of the smell of
leather objects, more especially of leather-bound ledgers and in shops
where leather objects are sold. She thinks this dates from the period
when, as a child of 9, she was sometimes left alone for a time on a high
stool in an office. A possible explanation in this case lies in the
supposition that on one of these early occasions sexual excitement was
produced by the contact with the stool (in a way that is not infrequent in
young girls) and that the accidentally associated odor of leather
permanently affected the nervous system, while the really significant
contact left no permanent impression. Even on such a supposition it might,
however, still be maintained that a real potency of the leather odor is
illustrated by this case, and this is likewise suggested by the fact that
the same subject is also sexually affected by various perfumes and odorous
flowers not recalling leather.[70]
It has been suggested to me by a lady that the odor of leather suggests
that of the sexual organs.


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