The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Art of Perfumery, and Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants
Title: The Art of Perfumery, and Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants
Author: G. W. Septimus Piesse
Release date: July 28, 2005 [eBook #16378]
Most recently updated: December 12, 2020
Language: English
Credits: Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
https://www.pgdp.net.
The Art
OF
PERFUMERY,
AND METHOD OF OBTAINING
THE ODORS OF PLANTS.
From the rafters of the roof of the Drying House are suspended in bunches all the herbs that the grower cultivates. To accelerate the desiccation of rose leaves and other petals, the Drying House is fitted up with large cupboards, which are slightly warmed with a convolving flue, heated from a fire below.
The flower buds are placed upon trays made of canvas stretched upon a frame rack, being not less than twelve feet long by four feet wide. When charged they are placed on shelves in the warm cupboards till dry.
THE ART OF PERFUMERY,
AND METHOD OF OBTAINING THE ODORS OF PLANTS,
WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PERFUMES FOR THE HANDKERCHIEF, SCENTED POWDERS, ODOROUS VINEGARS, DENTIFRICES, POMATUMS, COSMETIQUES, PERFUMED SOAP, ETC.
WITH AN APPENDIX ON THE COLORS OF FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL FRUIT ESSENCES, ETC. ETC.
BY G.W. SEPTIMUS PIESSE,
AUTHOR OF THE "ODORS OF FLOWERS," ETC. ETC.
PHILADELPHIA:
LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON.
1857.
PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN & SON,
19 St. James Street.
Preface.
By universal consent, the physical faculties of man have been divided into five senses,—seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. It is of matter pertaining to the faculty of Smelling that this book mainly treats. Of the five senses, that of smelling is the least valued, and, as a consequence, is the least tutored; but we must not conclude from this, our own act, that it is of insignificant importance to our welfare and happiness.
By neglecting to tutor the olfactory nerve, we are constantly led to breathe impure air, and thus poison the body by neglecting the warning given at the gate of the lungs. Persons who use perfumes are more sensitive to the presence of a vitiated atmosphere than those who consider the faculty of smelling as an almost useless gift.
In the early ages of the world the use of perfumes was in constant practice, and it had the high sanction of Scriptural authority.
The patrons of perfumery have always been considered the most civilized and refined people of the earth. If refinement consists in knowing how to enjoy the faculties which we possess, then must we learn not only how to distinguish the harmony of color and form, in order to please the sight, the melody of sweet sounds to delight the ear; the comfort of appropriate fabrics to cover the body, and to please the touch, but the smelling faculty must be shown how to gratify itself with the odoriferous products of the garden and the forest.
Pathologically considered, the use of perfumes is in the highest degree prophylactic; the refreshing qualities of the citrine odors to an invalid is well known. Health has often been restored when life and death trembled in the balance, by the mere sprinkling of essence of cedrat in a sick chamber.
The commercial value of flowers is of no mean importance to the wealth of nations. But, vast as is the consumption of perfumes by the people under the rule of the British Empire, little has been done in England towards the establishment of flower-farms, or the production of the raw odorous substances in demand by the manufacturing perfumers of Britain; consequently nearly the whole are the produce of foreign countries. However, I have every hope that ere long the subject will attract the attention of the Society of Arts, and favorable results will doubtless follow. Much of the waste land in England, and especially in Ireland, could be very profitably employed if cultivated with odor-bearing plants.
The climate of some of the British colonies especially fits them for the production of odors from flowers that require elevated temperature to bring them to perfection.
But for the lamented death of Mr. Charles Piesse,[A] Colonial Secretary for Western Australia, I have every reason to believe that flower-farms would have been established in that colony long ere the publication of this work. Though thus personally frustrated in adapting a new and useful description of labor to British enterprise, I am no less sanguine of the final result in other hands.
Mr. Kemble, of Jamaica, has recently sent to England some fine samples of Oil of Behn. The Moringa, from which it is produced, has been successfully cultivated by him. The Oil of Behn, being a perfectly inodorous fat oil, is a valuable agent for extracting the odors of flowers by the maceration process.
At no distant period I hope to see, either at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, or elsewhere, a place to illustrate the commercial use of flowers—eye-lectures on the methods of obtaining the odors of plants and their various uses. The horticulturists of England, being generally unacquainted with the methods of economizing the scents from the flowers they cultivate, entirely lose what would be a very profitable source of income. For many ages copper ore was thrown over the cliffs into the sea by the Cornish miners working the tin streams; how much wealth was thus cast away by ignorance we know not, but there is a perfect parallel between the old miners and the modern gardeners.
Many readers of the "Gardeners' Chronicle" and of the "Annals of Pharmacy and Chemistry" will recognize in the following pages much matter that has already passed under their eyes.
To be of the service intended, such matter must however have a book form; I have therefore collected from the above-mentioned periodicals all that I considered might be useful to the reader.
To Sir Wm. Hooker, Dr. Lindley, Mr. W. Dickinson, and Mr. W. Bastick, I respectfully tender my thanks for the assistance they have so freely given whenever I have had occasion to seek their advice.
Contents.
Preface
SECTION I.
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY.
Perfumes in use from the Earliest Periods—Origin lost in the Depth of its Antiquity—Possibly derived from Religious Observances—Incense or Frankincense burned in Honor of the Divinities—Early Christians put to Death for refusing to offer Incense to Idols—Use of perfumes by the Greeks and Romans—Pliny and Seneca observe that some of the luxurious People scent themselves Three Times a Day—Use of Incense in the Romish Church—Scriptural Authority for the use of Perfume—Composition of the Holy Perfume—The Prophet's Simile—St. Ephræm's Will—Fragrant Tapers—Constantine provides fragrant Oil to burn at the Altars—Frangipanni—Trade in the East in Perfume Drugs—The Art of Perfumery of little Distinction in England—Solly's admirable Remarks on Trade Secrets—British Horticulturists neglect to collect the Fragrance of the Flowers they cultivate—The South of France the principal Seat of the Art—England noted for Lavender—Some Plants yield more than one Perfume—Odor of Plants owing to a peculiar Principle known as Essential Oil or Otto
SECTION II.
Consumption of Perfumery—Methods of obtaining the Odors:—Expression, Distillation, Maceration, Absorption
SECTION III.
Steam-Still—Macerating Pan—Ottos exhibited at the Crystal Palace of 1851—Simple Extracts:—Allspice, Almond, Artificial Otto of Almonds, Anise, Balm, Balsams, Bay, Bergamot, Benzoin, Caraway, Cascarilla, Cassia, Cassie, Cedar, Cedrat, Cinnamon, Citron, Citronella, Clove, Dill, Eglantine or Sweet Brier, Elder, Fennel, Flag, Geranium, Heliotrope, Honeysuckle, Hovenia, Jasmine, Jonquil, Laurel, Lavender, Lemon-grass, Lilac, Lily, Mace, Magnolia, Marjoram, Meadow-sweet, Melissa, Mignonette, Miribane, Mint, Myrtle, Neroli, Nutmeg, Olibanum, Orange, Orris, Palm, Patchouly, Sweet Pea (Theory of Odors), Pineapple, Pink, Rhodium (Rose yields two Odors), Rosemary, Sage, Santal, Sassafras, Spike, Storax, Syringa, Thyme, Tonquin, Tuberose, Vanilla, Verbena or Vervain, Violet, Vitivert, Volkameria, Wallflower, Winter-green—Duty on Essential Oils—Quantity imported—Statistics, &c.,
SECTION IV.
ANIMAL PERFUMES.
Ambergris—Civet—Musk
SECTION V.
Smelling Salts:—Ammonia, Preston Salts, Inexhaustible Salts, Eau de Luce, Sal Volatile Acetic Acid and its Use in Perfumery.—Aromatic Vinegar, Henry's Vinegar, Vinaigre à la Rose, Four Thieves' Vinegar, Hygienic Vinegar, Violet Vinegar, Toilet Vinegar, Vinaigre de Cologne
SECTION VI.
BOUQUETS AND NOSEGAYS.
Proposed Use of the Term "Otto" to denote the odoriferous Principle of Plants
Compound Odors:—The Alhambra Perfume—The Bosphorus Bouquet—Bouquet d'Amour—Bouquet des Fleurs du Val d'Andorre—Buckingham Palace Bouquet—Délices—The Court Nosegay—Eau de Chypre—The Empress Eugenie's Nosegay—Esterhazy—Ess Bouquet—Eau de Cologne. (French and English Spirit.) Flowers of Erin—Royal Hunt Bouquet—Extract of Flowers—The Guards' Bouquet—Italian Nosegay—English Jockey Club—French Jockey Club. (Difference of the Odor of English and French Perfumes due to the Spirit of Grape and Corn Spirit.) A Japanese Perfume—The Kew Garden Nosegay—Millefleurs—Millefleurs et Lavender—Delcroix's Lavender—Marechale—Mousselaine—Bouquet de Montpellier—Caprice de la Mode—May Flowers—Neptune, or Naval Nosegay—Bouquet of all Nations—Isle of Wight Bouquet—Bouquet du Roi—Bouquet de la Reine Victoria—Rondeletia. (Odors properly blended produce new Fragrances.) Bouquet Royal—Suave—Spring Flowers—Tulip Nosegay—The Wood Violet—Windsor Castle Bouquet—Yacht Club Nosegay
SECTION VII.
The ancient Perfumes were only odoriferous Gums—Abstaining from the Use of Perfumes a Sign of Humiliation—The Vase at Alnwick Castle—Sachet Powders—Sachet au Chypre—Sachet à la Frangipanne—Heliotrope Sachet—Lavender Sachet—Sachet à la Maréchale—Mousselaine—Millefleur—Portugal Sachet—Patchouly Sachet—Pot Pourri—Olla Podrida—Rose Sachet—Santal-wood Sachet—Sachet (without a name)—Vervain Sachet—Vitivert—Violet Sachet—Perfumed Leather—Russia Leather—Peau d'Espagne—Perfumed Letter Paper—Perfumed Book-markers—Cassolettes, and Printaniers
Pastils—The Censer—Vase in the British Museum—Method of using the Censer—Incense for Altar Service—Yellow Pastils—Dr. Paris's Pastils—Perfumer's Pastils—Piesse's Pastils—Fumigation—The Perfume Lamp—Incandescent Platinum—Eau à Bruler—Eau pour Bruler—Fumigating Paper—Perfuming Spills—Odoriferous Lighters
SECTION VIII.
PERFUMED SOAP.
Perfumed Soap—Ancient Origin of Soap—Early Records of the Soap Trade in England—Perfumers not Soap Makers—Remelting—Primary Soaps—Curd Soap—Oil Soap—Castile Soap—Marine Soap—Yellow Soap—Palm Soap—Excise Duty on Soap—Fig Soft Soap—Naples Soft Soap—The remelting Process—Soap cutting—Soap stamping—Scented Soaps
Almond Soap—Camphor Soap—Honey Soap—White Windsor Soap—Brown Windsor Soap—Sand Soap—Fuller's Earth Soap—Scenting Soaps Hot—Scenting Soaps Cold—Colored Soaps:—Red, Green, Blue, Brown Soaps—Otto of Rose Soap—Tonquin Musk Soap—Orange-Flower Soap—Santal-wood Soap—Spermaceti Soap—Citron Soap—Frangipanne Soap—Patchouly Soap—Soft or Potash Soaps—Saponaceous Cream of Almonds—Soap Powders—Rypophagon Soap—Ambrosial Cream—Transparent soft Soap—Transparent hard Soap—Medicated Soaps—Juniper Tar Soap—Iodine Soap—Sulphur Soap—Bromine Soap—Creosote Soap—Mercurial Soap—Croton Oil Soap—Their Use in Cutaneous Diseases
SECTION IX.
EMULSINES.
Form Emulsions or Milks when mixed with Water—Prone to Change—Amandine—Olivine—Honey and Almond Paste—Pure Almond Paste—Almond Meal—Pistachio Nut Meal—Jasmine Emulsion—Violet Emulsion
SECTION X.
MILKS OR EMULSIONS.
Liebig's notice of Almond Milk—Milk of Roses—Milk of Almonds—Milk of Elder—Milk of Dandelion—Milk of Cucumber—Essence of Cucumber—Milk of Pistachio Nuts—Lait Virginal—Extract of Elder Flowers
SECTION XI.
COLD CREAM.
Manipulation—Cold Cream of Almonds—Violet Cold Cream—Imitation Violet Cold Cream—Cold Cream of various Flowers—Camphor Cold Cream—Cucumber Cold Cream—Piver's Pomade of Cucumber—Pomade Divine—Almond Balls—Camphor Balls—Camphor Paste—Glycerine Balsam—Rose Lip Salve—White Lip Salve—Common Lip Salve
SECTION XII.
POMADES AND OILS.
Pomatum, as its name implies, originally made with Apples—Scentless Grease—Enfleurage and Maceration process—Acacia, or Cassie Pomade—Benzoin Pomade and Oil—Vanilla Oil and Pomade—Pomade called Bear's Grease—Circassian Cream—Balsam of Flowers—Crystallized Oils—Castor Oil Pomatum—Balsam of Neroli—Marrow Cream—Marrow Pomatum—Violet Pomatum—Pomade Double, Millefleurs—Pomade à la Heliotrope—Huile Antique—Philocome—Pomade Hongroise—Hard or Stick Pomatums—Black and Brown Cosmetique
SECTION XIII.
HAIR DYES AND DEPILATORIES.
Painting the Face universal among the Women of Egypt—Kohhl, the Smoke of Gum Labdanum, used by the Girls of Greece to color the Lashes and Sockets of the Eye—Turkish Hair Dye—Rastikopetra Dye—Litharge Dye—Silver Dye—Hair Dyes, with Mordant—Inodorous Dye—Brown and Black Hair Dye—Liquid Lead Dye—Depilatory, Rusma
SECTION XIV.
ABSORBENT POWDERS.
Violet Powder—Rose Face Powder—Perle Powder—Liquid Blanc for Theatrical Use—Calcined Talc—Rouge and Red Paints—Bloom of Roses—Carmine Toilet Rouge—Carthamus Flowers—Pink Saucers—Crépon Rouge
SECTION XV.
TOOTH POWDERS AND MOUTH WASHES.
Mialhi's Tooth Powder—Camphorated Chalk—Quinine Tooth Powder—Prepared Charcoal—Peruvian Bark Powder—Homœopathic Chalk—Cuttle-Fish Powder—Borax and Myrrh—Farina Piesse's Dentifrice—Rose Tooth Powder—Opiate Paste—Violet Mouth Wash—Eau Botot—Botanic Styptic—Tincture of Myrrh and Borax—Myrrh with Eau de Cologne—Camphorated Eau de Cologne
SECTION XVI.
HAIR WASHES.
Rosemary Hair Wash—Athenian Water—Vegetable or Botanic Hair Wash—Astringent Extract of Roses and Rosemary—Saponaceous Wash—Egg Julep—Bandolines—Rose and Almond Bandoline
Contents of Appendix.
| Page. | |
| Manufacture of Glycerine, | 249 |
| Test for Alcohol in Essential Oils, | 251 |
| Detection of Poppy and other drying Oils in Almond and Olive Oil, | 252 |
| Coloring matter of Volatile Oils, | 253 |
| Artificial Preparation of Otto of Cinnamon, | 254 |
| Detection of Spike Oil and Turpentine in Lavender Oil, | 255 |
| The Orange Flower Waters of Commerce, | 255 |
| Concentrated Elder Water, | 256 |
| Arnall on Spirits of Wine, | 256 |
| Purification of Spirits by Filtration, | 259 |
| Cobb on Otto of Lemons, | 260 |
| Bastick on Benzoic Acid, | 263 |
| On the Coloring matters of Flowers, | 267 |
| Bleaching Bees' Wax, | 274 |
| Chemical Examination of Naples Soap, | 275 |
| Manufacture of Soap, | 275 |
| How to Ascertain the Commercial Value of Soap, | 277 |
| On the Natural Fats, | 281 |
| Perfumes as Preventives of Mouldiness, | 284 |
| Bastick on Fusel Oil, | 285 |
| Bastick's Pine Apple Flavor, | 286 |
| Wagner's Essence of Quince, | 288 |
| Preparation of Rum-ether, | 289 |
| Artificial Fruit essences, | 289 |
| Volatile Oil of Gaultheria, | 291 |
| Application of Chemistry to Perfumery, | 293 |
| Correspondence from the Journal of the Society of Arts, | 298 |
| Quantities of Ottos yielded by various Plants, | 303 |
| French and English Weights and Measures compared, | 304 |
Illustrations.
| Page | |
| Drying House, Mitcham, Surrey, | (Frontispiece.) |
| Smelling, from the Dresden Gallery, | (Vignette.) |
| Pipette, to draw off small Portions of Otto from Water, | 36 |
| Tap Funnel for separating Ottos from Waters, and Spirits from Oil, | 37 |
| The Almond, | 43 |
| Styrax Benzoin, | 48 |
| Cassie Buds, | 50 |
| The Clove, | 55 |
| The Jasmine, | 66 |
| The Orange, | 78 |
| The Patchouly Plant, | 83 |
| Santal-Wood, | 96 |
| Tonquin, | 101 |
| Vanilla, | 103 |
| Vitivert, | 109 |
| Civet Cat, | 117 |
| Musk Pod, | 120 |
| Musk Deer, | 121 |
| The Censer, | 166 |
| Perfume Lamp, | 171 |
| Slab Soap Gauge, | 180 |
| Barring Gauge, | 180 |
| Squaring Gauge, | 181 |
| Soap Scoops, | 181 |
| Soap Press, | 182 |
| Moulds, | 182 |
| Soap Plane, | 187 |
| Oil Runner, | 196 |
THE ART OF PERFUMERY.
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY.
SECTION I.
The garden glows, and fills the liberal air
With lavish odors.
There let me draw
Ethereal soul, there drink reviving gales,
Profusely breathing from the spicy groves
And vales of fragrance."—Thomson.
Among the numerous gratifications derived from the cultivation of flowers, that of rearing them for the sake of their perfumes stands pre-eminent. It is proved from the oldest records, that perfumes have been in use from the earliest periods. The origin of this, like that of many other arts, is lost in the depth of its antiquity; though it had its rise, no doubt, in religious observances. Among the nations of antiquity, an offering of perfumes was regarded as a token of the most profound respect and homage. Incense, or Frankincense, which exudes by incision and dries as a gum, from Arbor-thurifera, was formerly burnt in the temples of all religions, in honor of the divinities that were there adored. Many of the primitive Christians were put to death because they would not offer incense to idols.
"Of the use of these luxuries by the Greeks, and afterwards by the Romans, Pliny and Seneca gives much information respecting perfume drugs, the method of collecting them, and the prices at which they sold. Oils and powder perfumery were most lavishly used, for even three times a day did some of the luxurious people anoint and scent themselves, carrying their precious perfumes with them to the baths in costly and elegant boxes called Narthecia."
In the Romish Church incense is used in many ceremonies, and particularly at the solemn funerals of the hierarchy, and other personages of exalted rank.
Pliny makes a note of the tree from which frankincense is procured, and certain passages in his works indicate that dried flowers were used in his time by way of perfume, and that they were, as now, mixed with spices, a compound which the modern perfumer calls pot-pourri, used for scenting apartments, and generally placed in some ornamental Vase.
It was not uncommon among the Egyptian ladies to carry about the person a little pouch of odoriferous gums, as is the case to the present day among the Chinese, and to wear beads made of scented wood. The "bdellium" mentioned by Moses in Genesis is a perfuming gum, resembling frankincense, if not identical with it.
Several passages in Exodus prove the use of perfumes at a very early period among the Hebrews. In the thirtieth chapter of Exodus the Lord said unto Moses: "1. And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon; of Shittim wood shalt thou make it." "7. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning; when he dresseth the lamps he shall burn incense upon it." "34. Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight." "35. And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together pure and holy." "36. And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee; it shall be unto you most holy." "37. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof; it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord." "38. Whosoever shall make like unto that to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people."
"It was from this religious custom, of employing incense in the ancient temples, that the royal prophet drew that beautiful simile of his, when he petitioned that his prayers might ascend before the Lord like incense, Luke 1:10. It was while all the multitude was praying without, at the hour of incense, that there appeared to Zachary an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. That the nations attached a meaning not only of personal reverence, but also of religious homage, to an offering of incense, is demonstrable from the instance of the Magi, who, having fallen down to adore the new-born Jesus, and recognized his Divinity, presented Him with gold, myrrh and frankincense. The primitive Christians imitated the example of the Jews, and adopted the use of incense at the celebration of the Liturgy. St. Ephræm, a father of the Syriac Church, directed in his will that no aromatic perfumes should be bestowed upon him at his funeral, but that the spices should rather be given to the sanctuary. The use of incense in all the Oriental churches is perpetual, and almost daily; nor do any of them ever celebrate their Liturgy without it, unless compelled by necessity. The Coptic, as well as other Eastern Christians, observe the same ceremonial as the Latin Church in incensing their altar, the sacred vessels, and ecclesiastical personages."—Dr. Rock's Hierurgia.
Perfumes were used in the Church service, not only under the form of incense, but also mixed in the oil and wax for the lamps and lights commanded to be burned in the house of the Lord. The brilliancy and fragrance which were often shed around a martyr's sepulchre, at the celebration of his festival, by multitudes of lamps and tapers, fed with aromatics, have been noticed by St. Paulinus:—
And waxen tapers, shedding perfume round
From fragrant wicks, beam calm a scented ray,
To gladden night, and joy e'en radiant day."
Constantine the Great provided fragrant oils, to be burned at the altars of the greater churches in Rome; and St. Paulinus, of Nola, a writer of the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century, tells us how, in his times, wax tapers were made for church use, so as to shed fragrance as they burned:—
"Lumina cerates adolentur odora papyris."
A perfume in common use, even to this day, was the invention of one of the earliest of the Roman nobles, named Frangipani, and still bears his name; it is a powder, or sachet, composed of every known spice, in equal proportions, to which is added ground iris or orris root, in weight equal to the whole, with one per cent. of musk or civet. A liquid of the same name, invented by his grandson Mercutio Frangipani, is also in common use, prepared by digesting the Frangipane powder in rectified spirits, which dissolves out the fragrant principles. This has the merit of being the most lasting perfume made.
"The trade for the East in perfume-drugs caused many a vessel to spread its sails to the Red Sea, and many a camel to plod over that tract which gave to Greece and Syria their importance as markets, and vitality to the rocky city of Petra. Southern Italy was not long ere it occupied itself in ministering to the luxury of the wealthy, by manufacturing scented unguents and perfumes. So numerous were the Unguentarii, or perfumers, that they are said to have filled the great street of ancient Capua."—Hofmann.
As an art, in England, perfumery has attained little or no distinction. This has arisen from those who follow it as a trade, maintaining a mysterious secrecy about their processes. No manufacture can ever become great or important to the community that is carried on under a veil of mystery.
"On the subject of trade mystery I will only observe, that I am convinced that it would be far more to the interest of manufacturers if they were more willing to profit by the experience of others, and less fearful and jealous of the supposed secrets of their craft. It is a great mistake to think that a successful manufacturer is one who has carefully preserved the secrets of his trade, or that peculiar modes of effecting simple things, processes unknown in other factories, and mysteries beyond the comprehension of the vulgar, are in any way essential to skill as a manufacturer, or to success as a trader."—Professor Solly.
If the horticulturists of England were instructed how to collect the odors of flowers, a new branch of manufacture would spring up to vie with our neighbors' skill in it across the Channel.
Of our five senses, that of Smelling has been treated with comparative indifference. However, as knowledge progresses, the various faculties with which the Creator has thought proper in his wisdom to endow man will become developed, and the faculty of Smelling will meet with its share of tuition as well as Sight, Hearing, Touch, and Taste.
Flowers yield perfumes in all climates, but those growing in the warmer latitudes are most prolific in their odor, while those from the colder are the sweetest. Hooker, in his travels in Iceland, speaks of the delightful fragrance of the flowers in the valley of Skardsheidi; we know that winter-green, violets, and primroses are found here, and the wild thyme, in great abundance. Mr. Louis Piesse, in company with Captain Sturt, exploring the wild regions of South Australia, writes: "The rains have clothed the earth with a green as beautiful as a Shropshire meadow in May, and with flowers, too, as sweet as an English violet; the pure white anemone resembles it in scent. The Yellow Wattle, when in flower, is splendid, and emits a most fragrant odor."
Though many of the finest perfumes come from the East Indies, Ceylon, Mexico, and Peru, the South of Europe is the only real garden of utility to the perfumer. Grasse and Nice are the principal seats of the art; from their geographical position, the grower, within comparatively short distances, has at command that change of climate best fitted to bring to perfection the plants required for his trade. On the seacoast his Cassiæ grows without fear of frost, one night of which would destroy all the plants for a season; while, nearer the Alps, his violets are found sweeter than if grown in the warmer situations, where the orange tree and mignionette bloom to perfection. England can claim the superiority in the growth of lavender and peppermint; the essential oils extracted from these plants grown at Mitcham, in Surrey, realize eight times the price in the market of those produced in France or elsewhere, and are fully worth the difference for delicacy of odor.
The odors of plants reside in different parts of them, sometimes in the roots, as in the iris and vitivert; the stem or wood, in cedar and sandal; the leaves, in mint, patchouly, and thyme; the flower, in the roses and violets; the seeds in the Tonquin bean and caraway; the bark, in cinnamon, &c.
Some plants yield more than one odor, which are quite distinct and characteristic. The orange tree, for instance, gives three—from the leaves one called petit grain; from the flowers we procure neroli; and from the rind of the fruit, essential oil of orange, essence of Portugal. On this account, perhaps, this tree is the most valuable of all to the operative perfumer.
The fragrance or odor of plants is owing, in nearly all cases, to a perfectly volatile oil, either contained in small vessels, or sacs within them, or generated from time to time, during their life, as when in blossom. Some few exude, by incision, odoriferous gums, as benzoin, olibanum, myrrh, &c.; others give, by the same act, what are called balsams, which appear to be mixtures of an odorous oil and an inodorous gum. Some of these balsams are procured in the country to which the plant is indigenous by boiling it in water for a time, straining, and then boiling again, or evaporating it down till it assumes the consistency of treacle. In this latter way is balsam of Peru procured from the Myroxylon peruiferum, and the balsam of Tolu from the Myroxylon toluiferum. Though their odors are agreeable, they are not much applied in perfumery for handkerchief use, but by some they are mixed with soap, and in England they are valued more for their medicinal properties than for their fragrance.
SECTION II.
A liquid prisoner, pent in walls of glass,
Beauty's effect with beauty were bereft,
Nor it, nor no remembrance what it was;
But flowers distilled, though they with winter meet,
Leese but their show, their substance still lives sweet."
The extensive flower farms in the neighborhood of Nice, Grasse, Montpellier, and Cannes, in France, at Adrianople (Turkey in Asia), at Broussa and Uslak (Turkey in Asia), and at Mitcham, in England, in a measure indicate the commercial importance of that branch of chemistry called perfumery.
British India and Europe consume annually, at the very lowest estimate, 150,000 gallons of perfumed spirits, under various titles, such as eau de Cologne, essence of lavender, esprit de rose, &c. The art of perfumery does not, however, confine itself to the production of scents for the handkerchief and bath, but extends to imparting odor to inodorous bodies, such as soap, oil, starch, and grease, which are consumed at the toilette of fashion. Some idea of the commercial importance of this art may be formed, when we state that one of the large perfumers of Grasse and Paris employs annually 80,000 lbs. of orange flowers, 60,000 lbs. of cassia flowers, 54,000 lbs. of rose-leaves, 32,000 lbs. of jasmine blossoms, 32,000 lbs. of violets, 20,000 lbs. of tubereuse, 16,000 lbs. of lilac, besides rosemary, mint, lemon, citron, thyme, and other odorous plants in large proportion. In fact, the quantity of odoriferous substances used in this way is far beyond the conception of those even used to abstract statistics.
To the chemical philosopher, the study of perfumery opens a book as yet unread; for the practical perfumer, on his laboratory shelves, exhibits many rare essential oils, such as essential oil of the flower of the Acacia farnesiana, essential oil of violets, tubereuse, jasmine, and others, the compositions of which have yet to be determined.
The exquisite pleasure derived from smelling fragrant flowers would almost instinctively induce man to attempt to separate the odoriferous principle from them, so as to have the perfume when the season denies the flowers. Thus we find the alchemists of old, torturing the plants in every way their invention could devise for this end; and it is on their experiments that the whole art of perfumery has been reared. Without recapitulating those facts which may be found diffused through nearly all the old authors on medical botany, chemistry, pharmacy, and works of this character, from the time of Paracelsus to Celnart, we may state at once the mode of operation adopted by the practical perfumer of the present day for preparing the various extracts or essences, waters, oils, pomades, &c., used in his calling.
The processes are divided into four distinct operations; viz.—
1. Expression; 2. Distillation; 3. Maceration; 4. Absorption.
1. Expression is only adopted where the plant is very prolific in its volatile or essential oil,—i.e. its odor; such, for instance, as is found in the pellicle or outer peel of the orange, lemon, and citron, and a few others. In these cases, the parts of the plant containing the odoriferous principle are put sometimes in a cloth bag, and at others by themselves into a press, and by mere mechanical force it is squeezed out. The press is an iron vessel of immense strength, varying in size from six inches in diameter, and twelve deep, and upwards, to contain one hundred weight or more; it has a small aperture at the bottom to allow the expressed material to run for collection; in the interior is placed a perforated false bottom, and on this the substance to be squeezed is placed, covered with an iron plate fitting the interior; this is connected with a powerful screw, which, being turned, forces the substance so closely together, that the little vessels containing the essential oils are burst, and it thus escapes. The common tincture press is indeed a model of such an instrument. The oils which are thus collected are contaminated with watery extracts, which exudes at the same time, and from which it has to be separated; this it does by itself in a measure, by standing in a quiet place, and it is then poured off and strained.