E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Smelling Sin.
Shakespeare says, “Do you smell a fault?” (King Lear, i. 1); and Iago says to Othello, “One may smell in this a will most rank.” Probably the smell of dogs may have something to do with such phrases, but St. Jerome furnishes even a better source. He says that St. Hilarion had the gift of knowing what sins or vices anyone was inclined to by simply smelling either the person or his garments; and by the same faculty he could discern good feelings and virtuous propensities. (Life of Hilarion,A.D. 390.)
