Scent in the context of "Floral scent"

Perfume (UK: /ˈpɜːfjuːm/, US: /pərˈfjuːm/ ) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Perfumes can be defined as substances that emit and diffuse a pleasant and fragrant odor. They consist of artificial mixtures of aromatic chemicals and essential oils. The 1939 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, Leopold Ružička stated in 1945 that "right from the earliest days of scientific chemistry up to the present time, perfumes have substantially contributed to the development of organic chemistry as regards methods, systematic classification, and theory."

Ancient texts and archaeological excavations show the use of perfumes in some of the earliest human civilizations. Modern perfumery began in the late 19th century with the commercial synthesis of aroma compounds such as vanillin and coumarin, which allowed for the composition of perfumes with smells previously unattainable solely from natural aromatics.

A search-and-rescue (SAR) dog is a dog trained to respond to crime scenes, accidents, missing persons events, as well as natural or man-made disasters. These dogs detect human scent, which is a distinct odor of skin flakes and water and oil secretions unique to each person and have been known to find people under water, snow, and collapsed buildings, as well as remains buried underground. SAR dogs are a non-invasive aid in the location of humans, alive or deceased.

Tracking refers to a dog's ability to detect, recognize and follow a specific scent. Possessing heightened olfactory abilities, dogs, especially scent hounds, are able to detect, track and locate the source of certain odours. A deeper understanding of the physiological mechanisms and the phases involved in canine scent tracking has allowed humans to utilize this animal behaviour in a variety of professions. Through domestication and the human application of dog behaviour, different methods and influential factors on tracking ability have been discovered. While tracking was once considered a predatory technique of dogs in the wild, it has now become widely used by humans.

The rhinarium (Neo-Latin, "belonging to the nose"; pl.: rhinaria) is the furless skin surface surrounding the external openings of the nostrils in many mammals. Commonly it is referred to as the tip of the snout, and breeders of cats and dogs sometimes use the term nose leather. Informally, it may be called a "truffle", "wet snout," or "wet nose” because its surface is moist in some species: for example, healthy dogs and cats.

In many species, the rhinarium has a mid-line groove (cleft) – the philtrum – and a wrinkled (crenellated) surface. The rhinarium is a separate sense organ: it is a touch-based chemosensory organ that connects with a well-developed vomeronasal organ (VNO). The rhinarium is used to touch a scent-marked object containing pheromones (usually large, non-volatile molecules), and transfer these pheromone molecules down the philtrum to the VNO via the nasopalatine ducts that travel through the incisive foramen of the hard palate. It also acts as a wind-direction detector: cold receptors in the skin of the rhinarium detect the orientation where evaporative cooling is highest, as determined by the wind direction.

Scent hounds (or scenthounds) are a type of hound that primarily hunts by scent rather than sight. These breeds are hunting dogs and are generally regarded as having some of the most sensitive noses among dogs. Scent hounds specialize in following scent or smells. Most of them tend to have long, drooping ears and large nasal cavities to enhance smell sensitivity. They need to have relatively high endurance to be able to keep track of scent over long distances and rough terrain. It is believed that they were first bred by the Celts by crossbreeding mastiff-type dogs with sighthounds. The first established scent hounds were St. Hubert Hounds (the ancestor of today's bloodhounds) bred by monks in Belgium during the Middle Ages.