13 NOVEMBER 1999, Page 43

Scent Ambrose

From Dr Dennis M. Jones Sir: In Lyall Watson's article on the sense of smell ('The Cinderella of the Senses', 30 October) he states that there are no societies dedicated to the appreciation of this faculty. However, there certainly was one. Among his eccentric causes, the late Ambrose Appelbe — the solicitor whose clients included Ingrid Bergman, Mandy Rice- Davies and the mass murderer John Christie — numbered the Smell Society, whose aims included classification and codification of smells. While no longer in existence, it is worthy of mention. Their approach was aes- thetic rather than physiological.

Dennis Jones

Marden Mill, Marden, Devizes, Wiltshire