The Democratic advocate., 1881-08-13
Fine Perfumery.

Less than 2100 packages of fine perfu-
merry were imported at New York and
Boston during 1880. The trade is sub
stantially in the hands of few firms.
Some kinds of perfumery are worth more
than the ordinary person can well afford
to pay. The export of fine perfumery is
principally from Case, Nice, Cannes and
Bremen. The business is divided into
two parts. The manufacturer extracts
from the flowers the essential oils. The
perfumer buys these oils, pomades and ex-
tracts, and compounds them in various
ways. Only about dozen of all the fra
grant flowers ia the world are used in the
manufacturing of perfumery, viz: The
violet, rose, orange flower, jasmine, tube
rose, cassie, lavender, thyme, rosemary,
geraniums, jonquil and fennel.
The rose and orange are the most val
yable OF the numerous varieties Of the
rose, only one is used, the Provence rose,
single pale pink, the most sweet smelling
of roses; not hardy. Iu connection with
this subject Boston paper, which appears
to have obtained considerable information
upon the subject, says:
Ii is safe to say that among the numer-
Gus articles Of toilet, the manufacture of
perfumed pomades, perfumed oils and high
priced perlumery generally is as sealed
book to many persons.
Picking for perfumery occurs in almost
every month of the year. 1t is paradox
ical fact in the business that the bitter
orange yields the best blossoms for perfu-
merry. One ton Of blossoms yields two
pounds eight ounces of oil neroli. The
fruit of the bitter orange yields very fine
essential oil, bigarade. 1t is used in many
scents. The orange tree, cultivated for
its oil lasts, with care, over 200 years.
One ton of the distilled leaves of the
scented verbena geranium yields from
twenty-four to thirty ounces of the essen
tial oil. The flowers of the jasmine are
picked Just after sunset in July, and in
the morning, as soon as the dew IS OF, in
August. The jasmine is peculiarly de-
lieate flower. Its essential oil is so volatile
that it cannot be extracted BY distillation,
the heated water decomposing it so that
only faint tinge of the perfume is left in
the water that passes through the refrig-
Grant. Like the jasmine, the oil of the
tuberosc cannot be extracted by distilla-
ton. The perfume of the cassie is much
used in compounds.
The process of manufacturing perfumes
is in itself very interesting, especially to
the ladies. A ton of roses yields only two
ounces of the altar. If kept at a tempe
nature below so deg, altar crystallizes; if
kept open to the air and light, it is easily
voiatilized. Perfumed oils are made by
putting fresh quantities of flowers into the
finest of virgin olive oil from twenty to
thirty different times In this manner the
perfnmed oils of violet, jonquil, rose,
orange and cassie are made.
The essential oil of flowers has strong
affinity to lard or grease. The latter, rem
dered as white as snow, is perfectly satur-
ated with the flowers. The process is
repeated many times. In this way We have
pomade of rose, orange, cassie and violet
The affinity of the perfume of flowers for
alcohol is, however, stronger than for
grease. Pomades immersed in alcohol are
rendered into extracts, the grease leaving
the perfume. Extracts of orange, rose,
tuberose, cassie, violet and jasmine are
produced in this way.