So, you use a smell test to determine whether an old violin is Italian.
Yes.
How do you do that? Do you sniff the violin?
Oh, no! We have trained chimps who can smell a hundred times better than we can!
How do you know when they identify a violin as by a maker?
We let them compare the scent of a known example, and compare it with the scent of the subject violin. When there is a match, they get very excited! You must have seen chimps get excited. It is unmistakeable. If not, they quietly want a chimp treat for having sniffed the violins. We consulted with Jane Goodall on this. D'Attili used to say he could identify a violin at a glance. Maybe this is one better! We also use it as a cross check for dendro!
This post is dedicated to Stewart Pollens.
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