Other chapters center on the long human history of unsanitary, stinky squalor, as well as the current American obsession with totally obliterating any hint of bodily odor. Descriptions of sinus surgery--from primitive (Freudian-era) operations performed in order to subdue female "hysteria" to modern attempts to cure sinusitis--sent shivers up my spine and made my sinuses ache. Then there was the technique of irradiating the adenoids by means of radium-tipped wire probes. From the 1940ies into the 1960ies, this was a popular technique for relieving sinus and respiratory problems. Many years later the stupidity became manifest in the form of increased frequencies of brain tumors and thyroid disorders in treated individuals.
Of more interest to me than the information on the history of fashions in rhinoplasty were the stories about temporary or permanent anosmia--absence of a sense of smell. The sense of smell can be damaged by sinusitis, certain medications, tobacco smoke, or constant exposure to certain chemicals in the workplace. The ability to smell decreases with age, and may be severely impaired by Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. Among subjects showing moderate memory loss, poor performance on a test of ability to discriminate common odors was associated with a higher likelihood of developing Alzheimer's. She quotes from Proust that when nothing else tangible remains from the past, "the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls bearing resiliently, on tiny and almost impalpable drops of their essence, the immense edifice of memory."
