Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1860-03-10
THE GAZETTE.
MORNING, MARCH 10, 1850.
THE TOILETTE TABLE.


first sight very unimportapt article, Wueu
regarded in commercial or ssatlstlcal ASut
1t is SO utterly luxury, 80 completely "na'
practical people would can useless, 'nae rev
Of our fair readers ever absolutely realize
The Immense consumption OF the article, of
+he number of persous annually employed ID
tba nrodnction of these delicious little es'
saoce. which we sprinkle upon our haudker'
chiefs or which Undue eur pomatum pots
and too;h.powders Ii is almost Incredible
that Italy, Turkey, Tibet, Ionquin, the
Nest Indies, and more particularly France,
occupy vast tracts Of land as clover farms,
for the express purpose Of converting the
multitudinous blossoms into myra.a o.
perfumes; that in the South Of France 81, wv
people are annually employed III the cultiva-
ton and preparation OF howers; that one
large perfumer Of Graese and Paris employs
annually, $4,000 lbs. ct orange flowers
$4,000 lbs of cassia flowers, $4,000 lbs. Of
rose leaves, $4,000 lbs. of iasmin blossoms
$4,000 lbs. of yiolets, 10000 lbs. OF tube
rose, and $1,000 lbs of lilac, to say nothing
Of a perfect wilderness of lemon, mint cit
ron, thyme, rosemary, and other odorlterous
plants in proportion. Yet it il q fact, never
theless. aud the universal fondness for sweet
scents corroborates 1t.
Beau Brummel, the most perfect exquisite.
perhaps, who ever lived, asserted that mo
man OF fashion should use perfumes, but
should send his linen 70 be washed and dried
on Hampstead Heath" 1t was certainly al
origina! idea in that day, more particularly,
but though neither then nor now accepted
as universal rule, the remark may be con.
sidered as the very "poetry OF purity and
cleanliness" There is no perfume 80 SWEEP
as that impaired by the fresh green, grass,
SPARKLING water and brilliant noon-day
sun; no odor so nearly fragrant as that
which is borrowed from The bleaching
ground. !,
To make use Of the fair and Heeting bios
SONS; TO retain by art long after winter would
else inevitably have robbed US OF the plea
sure, the sweetness of rose and violet. OF mig
pionetts and tuberose, seems poetical enough
There is so intimate connection IN our
minds between beauty and blossoms, that q
fair girl who carries with her the deliciou.
aroma of any of the garden treasures, seems
only to have appropriated that which right
fully belonged TO her. To BIO conscious of the
presence Of a rose when Adelaide approach,
"a. to inhale the odor Of the ulignionette
when beautiful Claribella, the little darl.
Ing, is closeat hand, is only natural. But
ali perfumes are not taken from flowers,
alas!
Musk, that delight Of some and terror OF
Others. ia procured from the male musk deer
who dwell in India, in Siberia, in Thlbet
and China. The substance is remarkable 10
one respect: at has been kept in drawers
-, - sLor n nantnry canstaptiy tn rnWln
forth its odor. without losing any apprecla
BILE portion of its weight. Musk Is bao
enough; but civet. dear girls have you ever
thought of it? ACivet is the production OF
the civet cat. What the power OF the per-
fume must be, originally, cannot imagine,
for lit requires to be diluted with thousand
times its volume of spirits. 1t is not roman
tic to smell like musk deer or aciSet cat
blu, chacua a son govt
Ambergris, that perfume 50 often alluded
to in the Arabian Nights" is also of All.
NAL origin. The intestines OF 8 spermacetl
whale, the stomachs of various other vora
cious 6sh, yield considerable quantity; but
il is also found floating upon the water; OF
lying upon the coast of Coromandel and
other localities. People are at liberty &c
form what sentimental theories they choose
upon the subject, and connect it forever
in their minds with the thousand and one
tales.
The origin Of the use of perfumes in the
East is Of the most remote antiquity; and
still the Oriental sprinkles the departing
guest with rose-water in token of friendship.
In Arabia, where perfumes are much esteem.
ed, they were originally kept in shells, and
at q later date in pear-shsped boxes compos-
ed Of alsbaster. AT the present day, q we'll,
arranged toilette table it one of the pretties'
sights in the world. The tiny crystal bottle,
the tempting china jars, the dainty boxes,
with their painted flowers and gilded letters,
would tempt any one TO become consumer
of perfumery, and dabble just little in cos
metisms.