The native American., 1838-06-30
From The Baltimore Transcript.
ON PERFUMES.
0mnis copia narinm-HoR.
The boundless prodIgaliiY Of sweets.

| Perfumes have been at all times i'm great re-
quest. Among the ancients, they were employ
ed with wasteful profusion in their repasts, amphi
theatres, baths; in funerals, to counteract the
offensive exhalations in sacrifices to the gods
to disguise the vapour issuing from the blood o
the victims, and the efluvia from the numerous
spectators. They perlilmed their wines, bathed
IN water richly charged with balsamic odours,
streWed their apartments with flowers, or spinklcd
them with some aromatic liquid. On leaving the
bath, before they partook of the pleasures of the
festive board, their dress was changed, and their
skin perfumed with some fragrant oil or oint.
ment, OF which frequent notice is taken by To.
race, Catnllus, Juvenal, Martial, and other dis
tlngulshed painters of men and things This
custom of amounting is alluded to in the New
Testament. In Luke wi. 81 3s) we are told
! OF ''a woman who brought an alabaser box Of
ointment-and after washing the feet Of Jesus
with her tears, she wiped them with the hair OF
her head, and anointed them with the sweet
ointment" Catullus (Charm. 13) invites friend
to supper, and as an inducement, he promises him
an ointment of "such an exquisite fragrance,
that when you inhale its rich scent you will
wish that the gods had made you all ,1oscr'
In the banquetllng rooms, perfumed oils were
employed to difluse their delightful odours, while
they reflected vivid briiancy on the gorgeous
display of surrounding magnificence. Nero had
saloons in his celebrated Golden Palace. vain.
scolted with richly carved ivory, the pannels of
which turned on pivots and showered down
flowers, and perfumes upon the guests, from the
reservoirs behind them-the pleasure Of which
by the way, must have been greatly essened BY
the terror inspired by the capricious and gloomy
tyrant--
"For where his frown Of haired darkly fell
tyl ltIorIn nnl
The inhabitants of cold regions are compara-
lively indifferent to fragrant odours, which like
words, are scongealcd in northern air. Aroma
IS the more penetrating, the warmer the latitude
in which it cmanates. Arabia, tho East Indies.
Africa, and the Lcvant, arc the natural countries
OF the richest perfumes. In those regions, so
favored by nature-and
'Where all, save the spirit of man, is dvinc!"
the most luxurious odours are exhaled from plants
and trees, the cinnamon, nutmeg, Glove, which
embalm the air to a great distance.
The Turks luyuriaic in an atmosphere of bal
samlc sweets. Mahomct, the founder Of the
Eastern superstition, thought that there was "no-
lhlng SO delicious on earth as women and per-
tunes" Accordingly, one Of the enovmcnts of
his Paradise, is to anguish in cmbalmed bowers.
Inllaling the odours OF the most luscious flow
ers scattered by the fingers of the beautiful
Hours, TIL the sense rcvels in the delicious
safety. And Swedenborg, in his captivating
pictures OF the happiness of ofcclcstia spirits, docs
not forget the pleasure derived from rich per
fumes, waited from the luxarant productions of
the garden.
In Turkey, when you visit a respectable family
you arc made TO reclinc on 4 sken ottoman; a
ccnser OF ignitcd Goals is then prepared on which
iranknccnse or benzoin, is sprinklcd, exhalinr
q perfume which gently cxcites the nerves, and
disPoses to the most volupuous emotions. You
are then presented with pipe tipped with am
Der, and filled with tobacco scented q la rose
and you are refreshed with ice creams or sher
bets aromatized with luscious odours-or with
a cup of coffee, which is of itself the most de-
lghtfu of perfumes.
The languid constitution Of the Oricntals, rem
ucfs inc use OF aromatics necessary to them,
even even III their food. in order TO energize the vi
lMl.y which IS SO enfeeblcd by the sultriness of
',eir climate and by the excessive EMPLOYMENT
VI not paihs, opium and other enervatinG habits.
ana II may be truly said that nature has been
kihd 10 them IN regard to perlilmcs-scattcring
with her careless hand," as Thomson saws
the most odorous plants in the widest nrorus;on
The inhabitants Of more moderate climates
have occasionally initiated the Oren,als in their
love of perfumes. The voluptuous Louis XIV.
was very fond of them-and to indulge his taste.
Madame Pompadour caused the most balmy
odours to be dflused through the royal apart
ments. The famous Duke of Richlieu knew the
Vaiue OF perfumes in restoring his enervaed pow
ers' ne oathed IN aromatic waters, his clothes