This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Otolaryngology/ Head & Neck Surgery  • Olfaction and Taste Disorders  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

edited by Richard L. Doty, 2nd ed, 1121 pp, with illus, $250, ISBN 0-8247-0719-2, New York, NY, Marcel Dekker, 2003.

JAMA. 2003;290:3257-3258.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

What contains bone marrow colony-stimulating factor, tonin, lethal factor, and wound-contraction factor? The answer is saliva, which gives you a taste of the meaty material awaiting your digestion in this collection.

It has been almost a decade since the first edition but well worth the wait. Now 25% longer, with 48 chapters by more than 80 authors, Handbook of Olfaction and Gustation entices readers to explore current knowledge about the chemosenses. Although immersed in the field for 20 years, I was surprised by the amount of clinically relevant information I newly discovered.

The "Introduction and Historical Perspective," by editor Richard Doty, is particularly entertaining as he describes today's understanding of chemosensation as Zeitgeist. He provides the historical basis for Chanel No. 5, reflecting, "Helen of Troy acquired her beauty from a secret perfume, whose formula was revealed by Venus." Ancient perception of a cacosmious aroma was rooted in religious beliefs: . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Alan R. Hirsch, MD, Reviewer
Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation
Chicago, Ill

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?