It is not surprising that so delicious a flower has
furnished Oriental poetry with many charming traits and amorous similes."
Such a simile Sonnini finds in the _Song of Songs_, i. 13-14.[78]
The odor of semen has not been investigated, but, according to
Zwaardemaker, artificially produced odors (like cadaverin) resemble it.
The odor of the leguminous fenugreek, a botanical friend considers,
closely approaches the odor given off in some cases by the armpit in
women. It is noteworthy that fenugreek contains cumarine, which imparts
its fragrance to new-mown hay and to various flowers of somewhat similar
odor. On some persons these have a sexually exciting effect, and it is of
considerable interest to observe that they recall to many the odor of
semen. "It seems very natural," a lady writes, "that flowers, etc., should
have an exciting effect, as the original and by far the pleasantest way of
love-making was in the open among flowers and fields; but a more purely
physical reason may, I think, be found in the exact resemblance between
the scent of semen and that of the pollen of flowering grasses. The first
time I became aware of this resemblance it came on me with a rush that
here was the explanation of the very exciting effect of a field of
flowering grasses and, perhaps through them, of the scents of other
flowers.
Pages:
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218