The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.0112  Thursday, 20 January 2005

From:           D Bloom <
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Date:           Wednesday, 19 Jan 2005 11:35:58 -0600
Subject: 16.0103 The Renaissance Horse": A Call for Contributors
Comment:        RE: SHK 16.0103 The Renaissance Horse": A Call for Contributors

I don't claim to be an expert on the hind ends of horses, nor their
outfall (though I'm sure many people would dispute this assertion), but
I do have a question about the matter of smell.

My experience has been that the olfactory system rather quickly shuts
down after an initial contact with a particular scent, pleasant or
unpleasant. That's why if you have a faint whiff of something possibly
dangerous (natural gas or smoldering wood) you have to go outside for a
few seconds before returning to see if the scent is really what you
thought or some random false memory.

Although it is some years since I spent any time in the "Third World,"
which still commonly maintains sewage systems similar to those of
Elizabethan London, I recall much the same thing.

Aromas that were at first appalling soon became annoying and then unnoticed.

I think this study of the horse in Elizabethan culture has considerable
merit, but I'd like to recommend a little side study on this matter of
"unpleasantness."

Cheers,
don

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