The human race may owe its rise to the survival of the foulest.

Our hominid forebears, said

Louis S. B. Leakey, the anthropologist, smelled so rank that hungry predators recoiled,
allowing our unappetizing species to flourish and invent civilization. Brains and an
opposable thumb helped, too.

Since those trying days, body odor has lost its evolutionary edge but gained in commercial
advantage. Deodorants have become one of the most profitable industries in the nation's
personal-care business, attracting such giants as the Procter & Gamble Company and small
upstarts like Tom's of Maine.

Americans spent more than $1.6 billion last year, a record, for more than 677 million cans
and packages of deodorant, with sales inevitably highest during the summer. Only 5 percent
of the population, either too young or too brazen, does not use them.

Deodorant scientists conquered underarm odor years ago with antiperspirants made from
aluminum and zirconium compounds, recognizable by their flaky white residue. After
decades of experimentation, the industry has settled comfortably into selling the familiar
solids, roll-ons and sprays.

But because deodorants bring out the fastidiousness in people, companies continually refine
their products with new scents and less messy formulations. With few ingredients,
deodorants are easy to make but challenging to market when shelves are already crowded.
Now, for the first time in more than a decade, companies like Helene CurtisIndustries are
coming out with wholly new products, instead of line-extending refinements.

Still, fundamental growth is slow, tied to the number of people there are to deoodorize.
Moreover, deodorant use begins in the hyperactive teen-age years and tends to decline in
the more sedate 50's. As the population ages and sales growth slows, companies are likely to
gain market share only through purchasing competitors.

7 Corporate Giants

And a Little Room For Niche Brands

Seven corporations account for more than 90 percent of the deodorant market. Procter &
Gamble, with 31.5 percent, according to Kidder Peabody, is the biggest. Its share includes
the acquisition last month of Old Spice, one of the most famous brand names, from
American Cyanamid, adding to Procter & Gamble's shelf of Secret and Sure deodorants.
Gillette Company, No. 2 with its Right Guard, Dry Idea and Soft & Dri brands, is holding
steady at 17 percent.

For both giants, deodorants are relatively minor businesses. Because most deodorants cost
between $1.50 and $3.00, the competitive advantage is likely to remain with the big
companies who can make money from volume and, when sales flag, flood the market with
discount coupons and other promotions.

There are also tiny niche brands, like Tom's of Maine, Inc. Tom's boasts that its ''natural''
antiperspirant, likes its toothpaste and other products, contains no preservatives, dyes or
animal ingredients.

Odor Containment

The Underarm Through History

Before business moved in, there were bacteria. Body odor is caused by the multiplication
and decay of bacteria that are principally found in sweat glands. Most sweat, which cools an
overheated body, evaporates without causing odors. In the armpits, however, perspiration
leads to a moist and agreeable home for bacteria. Bathing removes some bacteria, if only
temporarily.

Many people confuse deodorants with antiperspirants. Deodorants, recognizable as colored

gels, clear sprays and roll-ons, mask body odors. Antiperspirants, usually recognizable by
their flaky white residue, are regulated as over-the-counter drugs. They stop wetness and
therefore odor. ''Bacteria can't live in a desert,'' said Carl B. Felger, manager of scientific
affairs at the Gillette Research Institute.

Until sweat glands were discovered in the late 18th century, and the link between underarm
perspiration and body odor understood, the scent-conscious relied on deodorants. The
ancient Egyptians could not abide body odor and invented the art of scented bathing,
followed by an underarm application of perfume. The ancient Greeks copied the Egyptians;
Homer said the proper Hellenic host offered his guests a bath and aromatic oils.
In ancient Rome, writes Diane Ackerman in her new book, ''A Natural History of the
Senses,'' the passion for perfume ''reached such heights that both men and women took
baths in perfume, soaked their clothes in it, and perfumed their horses and household pets.''

The fondness for bathing fell with Rome. In the Middle Ages, the Church warned of the evils
of nudity, even in the bath. The production of soap, known in Europe since it was invented
by seafaring Phoenicians in 600 B.C., declined precipitously. The European elite masked
body odors with eau de cologne and other toilet water until well into the 19th century.

The antiperspirant phase of history began in the United States. The first trademarked
deodorant was Mum in 1888, followed 15 years later by the first trademarked
antiperspirant, Everdry. A solution of aluminum chloride dabbed on with a cotton swab,
Everdry was cold, sticky, slow to dry, and so stinging and acidic that it ate through clothing.

Since then, industry research has focused on how to apply deodorants without making a
mess of the fingers. In the 40's, spray deodorants came into vogue, but these coarse sprays
were still cold and wet, and tended to drip down the user's ribs.

In the mid-50's, Ban introduced roll-ons, an offshoot of ballpoint pen technology. Quick and
easy to apply, roll-ons were immediately popular, although male consumers tended to avoid
them because underarm hairs got caught in the applicators.

Aerosol sprays, introduced by Gillette's Right Guard in the early 60's, seemed the ultimate
deodorant. But more recent concerns about the ozone-eating chlorofluorocarbons used as
propellant gases sent sales plummeting.

Today, deodorant solids and antiperspirant sticks, which men tend to favor, are half of the
market. Aerosol sprays, both deodorants and antiperspirants - now without the problematic
gases - have 24 percent. Roll-ons, favored by women, are 22 percent, with creams, pump
sprays and deodorant pads the remaining 4 percent.

How It Works, Maybe

Thousands of Tiny Plugs?

There isn't much in deodorants, but what little there is helps. Most deodorant solids use a
bacteria-fighting agent, often triclosan, carried in a propylene glycol goo thickened with
sodium stearate. The rest is fragrance. Most antiperspirants contain some form of
aluminum, like aluminum chlorohydrate. In roll-ons, it is contained in emulsifiers and
surfactants that keep oil and water together.

No one quite knows how sweat-fighting compounds of aluminum or zirconium work. But
molecules in the sweat glands appear to be slightly negative in electric charge; molecules of
antiperspirant compounds slightly positive. ''The evidence suggests that antiperspirants act
like little plugs,'' said Gerald N. McEwen, vice president for science at the Cosmetic, Toiletry
and Fragrance Association, a trade group.

What will future deodorants and antiperspirants look like? Researchers say, for one thing,
that consumers hate that flaky white stuff, a residue of aluminum compounds, that gets on
their clothes. Can a Stealth antiperspirant be far away?

SPRUCING UP A SEDATE CATEGORY

The latest breakthrough in deodorant technology offers a kind of customized odor control.
In a virtual dead heat, Helene Curtis Industries and Revlon Inc. introduced similar products
last autumn, both designed to appeal to men and women. Helene Curtis, however, has
gotten its product to the stores first and appears to have more riding on its fate.

Helene Curtis calls its product Degree, to suggest body heat. A patented formula is said to
give added protection against odor and wetness as the wearer perspires.

The Chicago-based company has begun one of the most expensive deodorant marketing
campaigns ever. It plans to spend more than $50 million advertising and promoting Degree
in the current fiscal year, or more than a third of the company's net worth as of the end of
last year.

Helene Curtis is offering a $1.79 discount coupon, probably the highest-value coupon in the
industry. The typical deodorant coupon is worth 50 to 75 cents.

''In most cases, the consumer will get the product for free,'' said Richard W. Frank, vice
president in charge of marketing for consumer products. ''We thought this was important
because consumers can be very loyal to a brand and we wanted people to try the product.''

In the unlikely event that consumers redeem all 46 million coupons, Helene Curtis would
have to pay out more than $82 million. In the year that ended Feb. 28, Helene Curtis's
earnings advanced 17 percent to $16.8 million on sales of $736 million. The company says
that it may see a loss this year because of the high marketing costs, but so far is encouraged
by strong sales. ''We can bring new life to a sleepy category,'' said Mr. Frank.

Revlon, a private company based in New York, used time-release technology, familiar in
cold-remedy pills, for a new antiperspirant called No Sweat. THE idea is that when other
antiperspirants are fading, No Sweat will have plenty of odor-fighting ingredients still sealed
away in tiny beads, which will dissolve when perspiration hits them. There are so many tiny
beads, Revlon says, that even copious perspiration does not deplete the supply.

Revlon says sales have met its expectations. ''We're very pleased with the performance,'' said
Barbara T. Khouri, Revlon's vice president in charge of marketing for the beauty care
division.

Could the blunt product name hurt sales? ''I don't think women are offended by the word
sweat,'' said Ms. Khouri. ''It's a very 90's product name - people don't want to heighten the
differences between men and women.''

Photos: Deodorants, which contain few ingredients, are easy to make but, in a crowded field,
difficult to market; Two recent additions. (Photographs by The New York Times Studio);
chart: a chronology of the developement of underarm deoderants, with the companies
involved, the advantages and disadvantages of the development.