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Some indirect evidence comes from historical perfume recipes. They really liked strong stuff back in the day. King Lear: "Give me an ounce of civet, good apoth
by malaya_zemlya 7y ago
Some indirect evidence comes from historical perfume recipes. They really liked strong stuff back in the day.
King Lear: "Give me an ounce of civet, good apothecary, to sweeten my imagination: there's money for thee"
Now, Civet here is a by-product of anal glands of a civet cat (not really a cat) and it smells pretty much like you'd imagine: extremely fecal, pungent and long lasting.
Modern perfumes still use this ingredient sometimes in minuscule amounts, but one ounce of civet is a lot for a modern nose. it would stink up the entire king's palace for days or even weeks.
- jaclaz 7y agoOff-time but not off-topic, an exceptionally good story is narrated in Perfume by Patrick Süskind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Süskind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Süskind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume_(novel) What many people forget today is that we are now (with the obvious exception of smog/pollution and related) mostly living in odourless environments whilst the air in a city, at least until the 18th or 19th century was full of very strong smells. Only think of: 1) open gutters/sewers 2) "side effects" of ubiquitous animal traction 3) small shops/industries (using fires, chemicals, etc., one example for all tanneries) were often side by side with homes