Albert 0. Hirschman Viking, 1987 197 pp. $18.95
classified air to identify what were considered to be dangerous, even deadly, odors. A strong whiff of "excrement, mud, ooze, and corpses provoked panic," says Corbin, particularly among finer folk. As for the stench of the poor, it merely offended the gentry, who, in their effort to create a well- scented "personalized atmosphere," supported a growing perfume industry.
Cholera epidemics during the 1830s brought home the urgency...