VERIFIEDPRIMARY
The Physics of Smell
Unsigned
CLM-METAL-001 · VERIFIED
Why handled metals smell, as reported in 1898
An unsigned 1898 note in Popular Science Monthly reports W. E. Ayrton's observation that most commercial metals lost their smell when cleaned but acquired characteristic smells when handled or rubbed, and that breathing on cleaned metals also produced a smell; Ayrton looked for the source of these smells in hydrogen given off and carrying impurities such as hydrocarbons, and thought it probable that no metal particles reach the nose.
A contemporary summary of a scientific address, kept as historical evidence of how the question was understood in 1898; it is not current scientific evidence.
The statement the claim rests on was found word for word in the text of the cited page or chapter of the digitised source, fetched from the named service, and an editor read that whole text against every part of the claim. The passage is cited by its locator; SmellBook does not reproduce the passage. Source text from Wikisource (proofread transcription).
- The Physics of Smell, p. 283 Printed page 283 is image 297 of the digitised volume, in the December 1898 issue's Fragments of Science.
Time described: 1898-12. The passage states no time; the source's publication date is used as the latest possible time it describes. Checked 2026-10-05.
active · reviewed 2026-10-02 · corrections 0
CANONICAL PROFILES1
SUPPORTING SOURCES1
Permanent identifier smellbook:claim:why-handled-metals-smell-as-reported-in-1898 · Graph record (JSON)
Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the dataset release of 2026-10-05 · sha256 d10c2deef978.