Why do we kiss

Miss Don asks:
A. To kiss (to touch or caress with the lips) is a sign of affection. To kiss the air ('mwah mwah') just looks affected. Neither comes naturally.

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Q. Surely there can't be anything more natural than kissing
A. It's no more natural than wearing clothes, claimed Vaughn Bryant, professor of anthropology at Texas A&M University, in New Scientist recently. For example, South Sea Islanders didn't kiss until after the Europeans landed. And, public kissing is much frowned upon in China and Japan.

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Q. How did�kissing start
A. Some people believe it derives from the time when mothers chewed up food and passed it directly to their babies. Then again, there are cultures where that still happens, but kissing is a recent Western introduction.

However it started, it was up and running by the 6th century, when the Kama Sutra described�eight ways to kiss.

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Q. What were they
A. The nominal kiss, the probing kiss, the touching kiss, the straight kiss, the bent kiss, the turned kiss, the pressed kiss and the greatly pressed kiss. All had a purpose. If you want to know more, you'll have to read it yourself...

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Q. So, why do we kiss then
A. Partly because the lips and tongue are highly sensitive areas with lots of nerve endings, and kissing releases endorphins - the 'happy hormones' - in the same way that eating a slab of chocolate does. However, it's more likely to be linked to scent.

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Q. To check out the brand of toothpaste
A. No, much more basic. Professor Bryant believes that kissing comes from an ancient habit of smelling each other's cheeks to check out the odour from the scent glands. That way, we could sniff out a suitable mate with complementary genes.

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Q. So the purpose of kissing really is to cop off with someone
A. Yes. Although you may prefer to opt for the more hygienic air-kissing or cheek-sniffing options and avoid the 278 colonies of bacteria that open-mouthed kissing can bring.

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Do you have something to say about kissing You can do so here.

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By Sheena Miller

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