In North Carolina, young Dan Tonkel had taken to wearing a bag of asafetida around his neck, in the belief that the stinking extract would protect him. “It smelled to high heaven,” he recalled. “People thought the smell would kill germs. So we all wore a bag of asafetida and smelled like rotten flesh.”
For most of human history, we thought that germs were spread by certain odors. So to counteract them, we would often use aromas: this is why plague doctor masks had the horn which was filled with herbs.
EDIT: I meant diseases were thought to be spread by odors, as we didn't yet have a germ theory of disease.
For most of human history, we thought that germs were spread by certain odors. So to counteract them, we would often use aromas: this is why plague doctor masks had the horn which was filled with herbs.
EDIT: I meant diseases were thought to be spread by odors, as we didn't yet have a germ theory of disease.