Page 66 - The Miracles of Smell and Taste

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memory: Information about smell has a much greater permanence. That
is why so many memories are evoked when you perceive a smell originat-
ing from a flower, a herb or even from a person. Research has shown that

every individual’s own scent is unique, just like a fingerprint. 54 (The on-
ly exception is with identical twins.) When specially trained dogs follow
a suspect, they track the traces of odor of that person’s skin , and can dis-
tinguish that suspect by means of his unique scent.
Indeed, the report in the Qur’an describing how the father of the
Prophet Joseph (peace be unto him) recognized his son’s scent years later
may be pointing to that very fact. His father recognized the smell as being
the same scent that the Prophet Joseph (pbuh) had in his childhood, even
after the passage of a great many years:
And when the caravan went on its way, their father said, “I can smell
Joseph’s scent! You probably think I have become senile.” (Surah
Yusuf: 94)

The Role of the Sense of Smell in Taste
Perception
The smell of freshly baked bread, the aroma of pies from a cafeteria,
or the smell of freshly ground coffee is all delightful. So attractive are
these aromas that they encourage one to taste those foodstuffs. Indeed, in
some circumstances, the saliva glands go into action and secrete the sali-
va necessary to be able to taste. Since your perception of scents is a thou-
sand times sharper than your ability to taste, odors play an important role
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in the “taste” of foods. Yet the relationship between our senses of smell
and taste goes even further.
How do you tell blackcurrant jam from strawberry?
If you think the answer is obvious, and that you just have to taste
them, you are mistaken, because tasting alone is not enough to tell the dif-

The Miracles of Smell and
Taste