olfactometern.
/ˌɒlfakˈtɒmᵻtə/, U.S. /ˌɑlfækˈtɑmədər/, /ˌoʊlfækˈtɑmədər/ 1. An instrument for measuring a person's sensitivity to smells or the intensity of smells.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > [noun] > study or measurement of > means of study or measurement of
odophone1885
olfactometer1889
odoroscope1890
odorimeter1898
olfactorium1950
1889 H. Zwaardemaker in Lancet 29 June 1301/1 I have lately constructed a small instrument which, I think, deserves the name of ‘olfactometer’. Its component parts consist of two tubes fitting into each other. The outer one is lined with scented material, and made to glide up and down over the inner one, of which one end remains free and is bent to fit the nostril.
1922 G. H. Parker Smell, Taste, & Allied Senses iii. 51 Two single olfactometers may be combined so that one current carrying an odorous material..may be introduced into one nostril and another carrying a second odorous substance..into the other nostril.
1969 J. R. Hughes et al. in C. Pfaffmann Olfaction & Taste 173 Stimuli have been presented by a portable two-channel olfactometer.
1992 Guardian 25 May 2/8 The Ministry of Agriculture is paying people £3.75 an hour to inhale farmyard smells..that are passed through an olfactometer.
2. A device for investigating the responses of an animal to odours.
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1926 Jrnl. Econ. Entomol. 19 552 Adult potato beetles were collected in potato patches and were tried in the insect olfactometer.
1969 New Scientist 17 Apr. 134/2 Some initial experiments using an olfactometer suggested that the sense of smell did not play any part in bringing the male and female spiders together.
1985 Sci. Amer. July 72/2 The rat is more able and trainable than the mouse, so that we can employ an automated olfactometer.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1889