Apart, however, from such considerations for and against his opinions, one of the modern theorics of odour, and of odour belonging to Fabre’s first, or material, order, is, as we shall see later on, that even it is a vibratory and not a material quality.
But leaving that development aside, and admitting for the moment the validity of Fabre’s contentions, I am bold enough to ask : Are we human beings so ignorant of the second domain of olfaction as he supposes ? Is it true that we are, as he says, lacking in the equipment necessary for the exploration of that mysterious region ? To answering these questions we shall presently address ourselves. In the meantime, I may forestall what I shall then say by remarking that I count it a very remarkable circumstance, if not, indeed, a significant coincidence, that, before I had become acquainted with Fabre's writings, I had, considering the phenomena of human olfaction and psychology alone, actually asked myself the same question as he asks, and had come to very much the same conclusion.
