On the Seyfert 2 warm and cool infrared dichotomy

An optical spectropolarimetric study has shown that the detectability of polarised broad Hα in Seyfert 2 galaxies is correlated to the IRAS f 60 /f 25 flux ratio where only those Seyfert 2s with " warm " IRAS colours show polarised broad line emission. It was suggested that those Seyfert 2s with " cool " IRAS colours have highly inclined tori which obscure the broad line scattering screen. I present here hard X-ray observations inconsistent with this picture showing that the derived column densities of warm and cool Seyfert 2 galaxies are statistically the same. I suggest that the IRAS f 60 /f 25 flux ratio is more consistent with implying the relative strength of galactic to Seyfert emission and provide supporting evidence for this view.