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Overview
Henning's prism
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A classification of odours according to six primary odours: fragrant (like lavender or rose petals), ethereal (like ether or cleaning fluid), resinous (like resin or turpentine), spicy (like cinnamon or nutmeg), putrid (like faeces or rotten eggs), and burnt (like tar oil), the first four being closely related and depicted as the vertices of one face of a prism (see illustration). Also called the odour prism or smell prism. Compare Crocker-Henderson system, stereochemical theory, Zwaardemaker smell system. [Named after the German psychologist Hans Henning (1885–1946) who presented it in his book Der Geruch (Smell) in 1915]
Henning's prism
