In article <45oimi$dim at mserv1.dl.ac.uk>, <Enevold.Falsen at alinks.se> wrote:
[...]
>> Could we make the list longer ?
>> Enevold Falsen
Yes, we can:
I did bacterial cultures in my home while I was attending high school to
keep myself busy and can tell you some more smells:
Proteus (exact species unkown, but I can be pretty sure of the genus):
Rotton Apricot
Staph. areus: hard to describe but easy to remember: an almost addictively
putrid smell (sort of on the wet-dog side)
Unknown species I have found in dry places such as cabinets.. old books,
forms red cultures and has a stinking smell that I seem to notice more
than other family members.
Also, I have cultured some photoheterotrophic soil bacteria that I would
like to do more reaserch on that produce a smell that varies from "bad
artificial butter" (butyric acid odor mainly) to a "musky" smell something
like sandlewood but not quite, and some of the volitile compounds from
this bacterium (appearantly terpenoid in nature) make a good smelling
"toilet water."
Not to be overlooked is the importance of the nose in medical diagnostic
work... I am aware of cases of "mystery" skin infections that had unknown
pathology (organisms did not swab off easily or did not culture well) but
when smelled turned out to be caused by various molds identified by odor.
David Snyder
dasnyder at uci.edu
