NEUEOIJOGXOAL CONTRIBUTIONS 
I. 
THE 
Odor of the Human Body 
AS DEVELOPED BY 
CERTAIN AFFECTIONS OF THE 
NERVOUS SYSTEM 
11. 
ON A HITHERTO UNDESCRIBED FORM OF 
Muscular Incoordination 
BY 
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D. 
Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System, in the University of 
the City of New York, Etc. 
Reprinted from the Transactions of the American Xeuroloyual 
Association for 1877 ■ 
/ V / . _ .'T 
NEWYORK 
Gr, P. PUTNAM’S SONS 
183 Fifth Avenue ’ 
1877 NEUROLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS 
I. 
THE 
Odor of the Human Body 
AS DEVELOPED BY 
CERTAIN AFFECTIONS OF THE 
NERYOUS SYSTEM 
11. 
ON A HITHERTO UNDESCRIBED FORM OF 
IUSCULAE INCOOEDINATION 
BY 
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D. 
Professor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous System:, in the University of 
the City of New York, Etc. 
Reprinted from the Transactions of the American Neurological 
Association for 1877 
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONSU 
NEW YORK 
182 Fifth Avenue 
1877 THIi ODOR OF THE HUMAN BODY, 
CERTAIN AFFECTIONS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 
AS DEVELOPED BY 
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D., of New York. 
That the human body has a distinct and special odor is well 
known to all who have been thrown into contact with dirty peo- 
ple. Indeed this odor is readily perceived even from cleanly per- 
sons, when they are crowded together or are confined within small 
or ill-ventilated apartments. It only needs concentration to be 
distinguished by our nasal organs under all circumstances. The 
lower animals have no difficulty in recognizing us by the smell of 
our bodies, even when it is diffused in the open air, or when we 
have touched some object to which they can apply their noses. 
In fact, we differ among ourselves in the character of our bodily 
odors, for a dog can readily distinguish at once the peculiar scent 
evolved by his master, from that of any other person. 
Among the dark races the odoriferous emanations from the 
body are much more distinctly marked than they are in the Aryan 
family of mankind, and are different in character. The odor of 
an American Indian is altogether different from that of a Negro, 
and either is entirely unlike that of a Caucasian. 
But besides this inherent bodily odor there is reason for believ- 
ing that under certain circumstances an entirely different redo- 
lence may be given off from the human body, not only as a con- 
sequence of disease, a fact well known, but as the result of various 
kinds of emotional disturbance. During the middle ages manifes- 
tations of the kind in question were not uncommon in the per- 
sons of saints of both sexes, and were attributed to miraculous 
power. In speaking of religious men and women of the present 4 
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND. 
day as being gifted with the “ odor of sanctity,” few who use the 
expression are aware of the fact that the quality under consider- 
ation was claimed to he a veritable physical endowment, and in 
all probability actually existed; not however as a special gift of 
God, but as a neurosis similar to other instances which have 
come under my observation. 
That many of the saints in the earlier days of the Church were 
highly odoriferous is not to be doubted, when we recall to mind 
the fact that bodily ablution was a sanitary measure of rare per- 
formance ; but the peculiar quality referred to was altogether dif- 
ferent from this ill-smelling savor, and indeed, appears to have 
been capable by its penetrating fragrance of altogether masking 
or overpowering what we may consider to have been the ordinary 
fetid saintly emanations. The instances of this virtue which it 
has been thought proper to record in the lives of the saints are 
numerous, but a few of the more striking will serve the purpose 
of illustration. Thus Gorres states, on the authority of Thomas 
a Kempis, that the body of the blessed Liduine exhaled such a de- 
licious perfume that her chamber was full of fragrance, so that 
persons entering it thought she had some sweet aromatic sub- 
stance concealed about her person. Many pious individuals, at- 
tracted by the aroma, and wishing to enjoy it to more advantage, 
approached their faces to the breast of the saintly woman, and 
perceived that here was the center from which the delicious odor 
came, “as if,” says the pious Gorres, “it were a casket in which 
the Lord had placed his most precious perfume.” * This redolence 
was much more noticeable after Liduine had received the visits of 
Our Lord or of her angel, or had experienced a vision during 
which she had been transported to heaven. It was sensible,not 
only to the smell, but also to the taste, as it left on the tongue 
and palate an impression like that experienced after chewing ca- 
ll ella. It was especially perceptible on that one of her hands 
which had been taken by the angel in leading her to paradise. In 
the cases of other saints this sweet odor was noticed only when 
they celebrated mass. Thus when the blessed Venturini of Ber- 
gamos officiated, the people struggled to get as near as possible to 
the altar, in Order to enjoy the perfume he exhaled. In the per- 
son of St. Dominique it was the hand in which the phenomenon 
was manifested, as was clearly perceived by those who kissed it. 
*La Mystique divine, naturelle, et diabolique. Tome 1., p. 340. Paris, 
1861. 5 
THE ODOR OE THE HUMAN BODY. 
With St. Francis de Paul, a delicious odor was given off most sen- 
sibly, after he had fasted three, eight, or forty days, and had sub- 
jected himself to frequent disciplinary inflictions. With the 
blessed Helen and Maria Yillana, the perfume was exhaled when 
they received the communion. 
Although there is great room for considering some of these in- 
stances as fraudulent, and of course no ground whatever for look- 
ing on any of them as miraculous manifestations, there is, as I 
shall show, reason for regarding them as within the range of prob- 
ability from the action of natural causes. 
So far as I am aware, the subject has not heretofore attracted 
attention in the relations now under notice. It is true, that fetid 
perspiration from the feet and other parts of the body has been 
studied,to some extent in its pathological and therapeutical as- 
pects; but the production of specific odors as the result of certain 
affections of the nervous system is as yet unstudied. 
Case I.—The first instance of the kind which came under my 
observation was that of a young married lady of strong hysterical 
tendencies, in whom, during a paroxysm, an odor similar to that of 
violets was exhaled from the body. This was so powerful as to be 
distinctly perceptible at the distance of several feet, and was at 
once noticed by any one entering the room in which the patient 
was. Usually the odor began to be evident as soon as the paroxysm 
of alternate weeping and laughing was fully developed, but at 
times it was not apparent till toward the close. In the intervals 
it was entirely absent. 
Upon examination I ascertained that the odor was only ex- 
haled from the left lateral half of the anterior wall of the chest, 
and that the perspiration was remarkably increased in this region 
as compared with the corresponding part opposite. 
There was nothing at all disagreeable about this exhalation. 
On the contrary it was decidedly pleasant; nevertheless the pa- 
tient was exceedingly anxious to get rid of it, even if she had to 
part with her hysterical manifestations—phenomena which she 
nursed with assiduous care. 
Preliminary to the adoption of any therapeutical measures, I de- 
termined in the first place to ascertain, if possible, the nature of 
the odoriferous principle. With this object in view, I covered the 
affected side of the chest with a perfectly clean cambric handker- 
chief while the perfume was being evolved, and when it was well 
saturated with perspiration and thoroughly redolent with the pe- 6 
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND. 
culiar odor, I placed it in a glass retort into which I introduced 
four fluid ounces of proof spirit. This was allowed to stand .for 
several hours, and then distillation was effected at a temperature 
of 120°, and was continued till about one-fourth of the fluid con- 
tents had passed over into the receiver. This distillate was very 
strongly impregnated with the perfume of violets, as will be dis- 
tinctly perceived in the portion contained in the vial which is now 
exhibited. 
I presume the odor is due to the presence of butyric ether, a 
substitution compound of butyric acid. This latter substance is, 
as is well known, a constituent of normal perspiration, and is also 
derived from the juice expressed from human flesh. The or- 
dinary odor of butyric ether is that of the pine-apple, but it is 
possible that the difference observed in this case is due to the 
presence of some other organic principle in small quantity, and 
that the change is similar to that which takes place with butyric 
ether in fruits of various kinds, leading to the production of modi- 
fications in the perfume. The odor of the mnskmelon is just as 
much due to the presence of butyric ether as is that of the pine- 
apple and other fruits of very different perfumes. Butyric ether 
is of very extensive use in perfumery, and various scents are pro- 
duced by the chemical processes to which it is subjected. 
This hypothesis is rendered more probable by the fact that if to 
a portion of this violaceous compound I add, as I now do, a little 
bicarbonate of soda, the characteristic odor is changed into one 
exactly like that of the pine-apple. It probably becomes pure 
butyric ether. 
An interesting circumstance in the present connection is the 
fact that by the ingestion of asparagus into the stomach, and still 
more notably of turpentine, the urine acquires very rapidly the 
odor of violets, while, as is well known, neither the one nor the 
other of these substances has such a quality. 
Again, butyric acid constitutes the odorous principle of the 
sweat as excreted by different parts of the body, and which has 
its own peculiar odor according to the region from which it is 
taken. There must be therefore some modifying principle which 
by its presence is capable of altering the smell of the perspiration 
without notably changing its chemical characteristics. The fact, 
therefore, that in the present case the perfume of violets is readi- 
ly replaced by that of pine-apple—the peculiar odor of butyric 
ether, has its analogues in our every-day experience, and leaves 7 
THE ODOE OF THE HUMAN BODY. 
scarcely a doubt on the mind that the odoriferous principle is 
butyric ether. Having obtained these facts, I began a series of 
experiments with the view of dissipating the perfume, Avhich, how- 
ever pleasant to those around the patient, was the subject of con- 
siderable annoyance to herself. 
Among local applications I found a weak solution of carbolic 
acid entirely effectual, but only for the time being. With the 
ensuing paroxysms the odor was just as distinctly perceptible as 
before. 
Lotions of the dilute mineral acids also destroyed the odor. 
Soap and water did not, though it was changed to the perfume 
of pine-apple by this and other alkaline solutions. 
Ho external applications afforded more than temporary relief, 
and the object, that of enabling the patient to be hysterical with- 
out evolving a perfume, was not attained by these means. 
But I am happy to say that after using various medicines, I 
finally succeeded in curing this lady of her violaceous redolence 
by the administration of the salicylate of soda in doses of five 
grains, three times a day, continued for about thirty days; not 
only was the odor destroyed, but the exuberant perspiration of the 
region from which it was evolved was also reduced to its normal 
standard. This lady is at the present time free both from redolent 
perspiration and from hysterical manifestations of all kinds. 
Case II.—Another case of marked odoriferous perspiration was 
that of a young lady, in whom the phenomenon was first exhibited 
contemporaneously with the occurrence of an attack of chorea. 
In this instance the perfume was distinctly that of pine-apple. It 
was exhaled with the insensible perspiration, and, as the case 
occurred in the winter, it was not convenient to collect the sweat 
so as to submit it to any chemical examination. 
Case lII.—A lady now under my charge informs me that when- 
ever her emotions of anger are excited, she and those near her 
are sensible of the fact that she exhales from the skin of her head, 
neck, and chest a marked odor of pine-apple. 
Case IY.—A gentleman upon whom I recently performed a 
severe and dangerous surgical operation, and who was at times 
very hypochondriacal, evolved from his body at such periods 
a strong violaceous odor, as he stated in some notes of his case 
which he gave me, and as I had several opportunities of remark- 
ing. 
These are the only cases which have come under my immediate 8 
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND. 
notice, though several other instances of perfumed perspiration 
have been mentioned to me. 
Cases of fetid, or at least of disagreeable odors, exhaled from 
the body during periods of emotional excitement, are also occa- 
sionally met with, and several have been under my observation, 
though I have not had the opportunity of studying them in detail. 
A notable instance under this head was that of a young lady, a 
school-teacher, in this city, from whose body an odor similar to 
that of Limb.urger cheese, and evidently due to butyric acid, was 
evolved during attacks of sick-headache, to which she was sub- 
ject. 
The odor exhaled by some women during venereal excitement 
has its analogies among the lower animals, and is said to be 
sometimes strong and disagreeable. On the other hand, it has 
been reported to me, by a gentleman of this city, that the chere 
amie with whom he cohabits gives off a very decided rosaceous 
odor at such periods. 
In regard to the immediate cause of these odoriferous emana- 
tions I have very little to suggest, beyond what would occur to 
neurologists in general. Gorres asserts that the pleasant odors 
are the direct result of transcendent holiness, by which the coarse 
bodily atoms are transformed into delicate and fine matters of 
spiritual, rather than bodily qualities. Further, according to 
this learned authority, these transcendental changes are accom- 
panied by a sweet, saintly, and altogether heavenly disposition; 
an assertion which my experience is far from supporting. Still 
further, disagreeable bodily odors are the result of a continual 
degradation of the corporeal substances, and are a of a bad 
and entirely depraved mind, an assertion which is as far from the 
truth as the other. And yet the doctrines of Gorres on these 
and other matters which he regards as supernatural are approved 
by very high ecclesiastical authority, and his work, originally 
published in German, has been translated into other European 
languages, and in France at least has reached several editions. 
As we have seen, too, so firmly rooted is the idea of a veritable 
“odor of sanctity,” that the phrase has obtained a recognized 
place in our language, and is uttered glibly by priests and lay- 
men, as expressive of the highest religious development in those 
to whom it is applied, without probably, in the vast majority of 
cases, there being the least knowledge that they are employing 
an expression Tor which a miraculous foundation is claimed. THE ODOR OF THE HUMAN BODY. 
9 
But would we be any nearer exactness than Gorres, if wre do 
more than declare—and at present we can go no further—that the 
peculiar odors referred to are the result of nervous disturbance ? 1 
think not; and though we might talk of vaso-motor disturbance, 
and the sympathetic nerve, and unilateral sweating, etc., we 
should not shed much additional light upon the causes of the 
very remarkable phenomena to which I have asked attention. ON. A HITHERTO UNDESCRIBED FORM OF 
MUSCULAR IN-COORDINATION. 
Br WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, M.D., of New York, 
The case which I have the opportunity of presenting to the 
Neurological Association is one which, for several months, has 
engaged my attention, though, I am sorry to say, without any 
satisfactory result, either as regards diagnosis or treatment. In- 
deed, I am unable to state with any degree of accuracy the part 
of the nervous apparatus in which the essential lesion resides. 
Henry Norman, aged three years and ten months, came to my 
clinic at the University Medical College in January, 1876. He 
was apparently in good general health, was well grown for his age, 
and had not been subject to any exhausting disease. As he sat 
upon a chair he exhibited no indications of paralysis, spasm or 
in-coordination. He moved both legs well and with normal force, 
and could use either hand in the ordinary way. 
But on his attempting to walk he assumed a peculiar one- 
sided'stooping position, his left arm being flexed and held close to 
the side, while the right was thrown out strongly behind him. 
This attitude is well shown in the accompanying wood-cut from 
a photograph. 
In walking, he was able to direct his steps with a certain 
amount of precision, but yet not with the normal degree of 
accuracy. He appeared also to have some difficulty in arresting 
his movements, and was accordingly apt to come up violently 
against obstacles which were in his way. His gait was rather a 
run than a walk, and he often fell. 
In bringing the case before the class, I expressed the opinion 
that it was one of chorea paralytica and gave a favorable prognosis. 12 
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND. 
I prescribed arsenic and strychnia. After two weeks, as there 
was no improvement, I substituted the bromide of zinc; but after 
its being used for several weeks in gradually increasing doses with- 
out benefit, I stopped the further administration. 
Repeated examinations led me to doubt the correctness of my 
first opinion, that the disease was choreic in character ; but I was 
not able to identify it with any which had come under my notice, 
or of which I had read. 
In May he came under Prof. Sayre’s observation, who expressed 
the opinion that the case was one of reflex in-coordination due to 
contracted prepuce, and that it would be cured by circumcision. 
This operation was performed by a Brooklyn surgeon, and sub- 
sequently more completely by Prof. Sayre; but the little patient 
has continued to get worse, and the father and mother inform me 
that at no time after the operation was there the slightest allevia- 
tion. 
The patient is here before the members of the Association, and 
I think they will see, on comparing his present appearance with 
that shown in the photograph taken Just before the circumcision 
was performed, that there has been a gradual advance in the in- 13 
MUSCULAR IN-COORDINATION. 
tensity of the phenomena. Yet, notwithstanding the marked in- 
coordination, there is no paralysis, no derangement of sensibility, 
no bladder disturbance, no spasm, no diminution of electric ex- 
citability, and none of the peculiar symptoms indicative of 
sclerosis of any part of the cord. 
I have been unable to find any reference to an affection such as 
that exhibited in the case before us. Certain analogies will readily 
occur to the members of the Association. 
Addendum, June 30th, 1877.—Soon after the patient was ex- 
hibited before the American Neurological Association in June, 
1876, he was brought to me by his father, and on ascertaining that 
he was gradually getting worse, I stopped all medicine, and ad- 
vised his being sent into the country. This was about the 10th 
of June, and two months after circumcision had been performed. 
At this time he could not walk alone, and when he desired to 
go from one place to another he lay down on the floor and rolled 
to it. 
I heard nothing more of the case till I received the following 
note: 
“September 17, 1876. 
“ Dr. W. A. Hammond : 
“ My child, Harry Norman, commenced to improve two weeks 
after his return from the country, July 15th, and is now about 
well. No medicine of any kind during that time. 
“ Respectfully, 
“A. J. Norman, 
“ He was very bad until July 15th.’’ 
“825 Broadway. 
Now I did not suppose that any treatment I had given this 
child had at all facilitated his recovery, and I felt equally sure 
also that the operation of circumcision had been just as ineffi- 
cacious. Over three months had elapsed since the excision of 
the prepuce for a disorder alleged to be due to phymosis, and 
therefore reflex. If the theory of the affection had been cor- 
rect, the relief would doubtless have been immediate. But 
my distinguished friend Professor Sayre thought differently, 
and in a clinical lecture, delivered September 23d, 1876, and pub- 
lished in the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter of 
October 14, he brings forward this case as an illustration of the 
beneficial results of his treatment. It is true, he cites a letter from WILLIAM A. HAMMOND. 
the father in terms almost identical with the one addressed to 
me. But it is surely straining a point to claim the case as a 
cure by circumcision, even if the child had fully recovered. The 
title of Professor Sayre’s lecture is “Paralysis from Peripheral 
Irritation, so-called Spinal Anaemia.” By whom such cases as 
this are called spinal anaemia Professor Sayre does not inform 
us. He, however, admits that he once so regarded them, in which 
opinion he doubtless stood alone. They have about as much re- 
semblance to any form of spinal anaemia as they have to small- 
pox. 
During the past winter the subject of peripheral irritation 
from phymosis was discussed before the New York Neurological 
Society, and I then declared it to be in the highest degree improb- 
able that the operation in this case could have been in the least 
degree instrumental in curing the affection. Prof. Sayre, how- 
ever, thought that the delay in the result was altogether due to 
the slow healing of the wound made in the prepuce, and the 
consequent continuance of the irritation. 
But now for the sequel: 
I heard nothing more about the case, and regarded the child as 
having entirely recovered, till the receipt of the following letter: 
“ New York, April 2d, 18?7. 
“Dr. William A. Hammond: Dear Sir—My boy has had 
occasional relapses, but has at no time been as bad as he was at 
the end of two months after Dr. Sayre performed his operation ; 
he was then at his worst. At the time he made his first rapid 
improvement we were giving him hypophosphate of lime and soda. 
His relapses have not been so bad as to cause alarm. He is now 
quite bent over when he walks, and is still inclined to stick his 
arm out; but he eats without attendance. We have very recently 
moved to a dryer house, and will note what change and how 
soon it takes place, if any. 
“Dr. Sayre once or twice by note requested me to bring the 
boy, but I found it impossible to go or send him. Besides, I am 
fully satisfied that the operation amounted to nothing. 
“ The case is still a mystery to me. It may have been from the 
damp house we lived in, as he seemed better in very dry weather. 
If such was the case, our recent removal will demonstrate it, and 
I will be pleased to inform you of it. 
“At any rate, he is not well yet. Strangers take him for a 15 
MUSCULAR IN-COORDINATION. 
cripple, but we do not feel the alarm we once did, owing to the 
variable nature. We trust he will come out all right. 
“Very respectfully yours, etc., 
“A. J. Norman.” 
That circumcision may be efficacious in a very limited class of 
cases—viz., that in which phymosis co-exists with functional ner- 
vous derangement, causing spasms or paralysis—l have never 
doubted. But that it is a remedy of any such wide-spread appli- 
cation as has recently been given to it is, to my mind, absurd. 
Only a few weeks ago I saw a child, son of a clergyman of Brook- 
lyn, where circumcision had been performed for paralysis, the 
result of myelitis of the anterior horns of the spinal cord. In 
this case all the clinical signs of organic infantile paralysis were 
present. Such claims and such operations bring into undeserved 
disrepute a procedure which for many centuries has been recog- 
nized as efficacious when a cause for it really exists.