Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1885-07-17
TOILET PERFUMES.
The Tribute Paid By the Land and
Sea-Rose Culture I'm the French
Aims
San Francisco Chronicle.

San Francisco Chronicle.
I'VE have to depend upon every
country in the world for the various
component parts of perfumery," said
a manufacturer of toilet preparations
to a Chronicle reporter recently.
Chow is that?" asked his visitor,
whose nostrils were inflated with the
numerous pungent odors that filled
the atmosphere of the perfumer's Of
flee.
"Well, for instance, there is amber
girls, which comes from the diseased
stomach of the sperm whale, in the
indian Ocean. This substance enters
largely in the manufacture of per-
fumes, and we are dependent upon
Boston for our supply. a whaler Who
finds a whale with small tumor IN
his stomach is assured of small for
tune, as ambergris Is worth $50 an
ounce, and the tumors are generally
by no means small. From the Flow
cry Kingdom, or at least from Ton
quin, we obtain our musk, which
comes from a cyst of the animal call
ed the musk. This cyst or bag con-
tains an oily colored matter, which
is the true musk, one of the strongest
odors or perfumes in nature. Many
people suppose that the musk perfume
is made from the musk rose, but the
suppositien is incorrect. We get the
oil OF ylang ylang fro IN Manila. The
flower of tDis plant is so fragrant that
the natives there place one IN their
turbans, which is sufficient to per-
fume them for an entire year. The
ylaug y lang is the queen of flowers
and the oil from it was made original
ly by the early missionaries in the
Philippine Islands. Now, however,
the business is very extensive. Ceylon
is prolific in rare and fragrant per-
fumes and ii is fact well known
among navigators there that when the
wind is blowing from the shore de-
licious odors can be noticed by people
on vessels Fifty miles out at sea.
From the southern states we obtain
the white ash, which is so pungent
that bough of it brushed over a
snake will cause it to become torpid.
Turkey furnishes Us with the altar Of
roses, which is highly favored con-
crete, obtained from the petals of
roses. India also furnishes some, but
the Turkey product is the best. 1t is
worth about $22 per ounce, but has
| been much more expensive, at times
years ago retailing at 81 a drop.
| When the temperature gets below As
| degrees Fahrenheit, the altar Of roses
crystallizes ia the most beautiful man
ner. Ne roll is the essential oil of the
choisest petals of the orange flower,
being very expensive. We get this
from the large orange districts IN
Upper Italy and Southern France.
From distant Siam we obtain benzoin.
which is a resinous juice that flows
from missions made in the Styra2
benzoin, a tree that grows in Siam
and on the Island of Sumatra. This Is
solid and brittle, and comes to us in
yellowish white tears, joined together
by a brown substance. 1t has an all
most imperceptible taste, but when
rubbed ar heated is extremely fra
grant and agreeable. The Siamese
benzoin is the most expensive and
delicate, that from Sumatra being
more pungent. England supplies us
with the finest oil of lavender, which
comes from small place called Nit
cham, and is worth sos pound. An
inferior quality is obtained in France
for $40 a pound, but there is no COM
parison between the two oils. The
tonquin bean comes from Guiana,
and has u peculiar agreeable smell.
1t is used in combination with essen
tial oils 10 make q lasting perfume.
The rose is, Of course, one OF the lead
ing flowers from which perfume is
obtained, and from France and Tur>
key we get the largest quantities OF
those leaves. French roses are the
best and most expensive. The Gems
tifolla, or hundred leaved rose, is the
most fragrant. TO give yo. some idea
of the extent of the business or rose
culture in France, l have only to
state that 100000 pounds of rose
leaves are gathered annually in the
French Alps. 1t takes 1000 p,u nds
of rose leaves to make one and one
half ounces of rose oil, and the oil is
worth about 200 francs pound. In
the south of France they also gather
annually over 5000, 600 pounds of
orange blossoms. Whole communi
ties are engaged in the business, which
is the only way it can be made to pay.
Cassia, tho blossom of TIE cinnamon
tree, comes from tia East Indies, and
is sometimes used as substitute for
violet, when the latter is scarce. The
tube rose also comes from the East
Iudles, the bitter orange from the
northern districts of Italy, and so on.
Every country sends some kind of a
contribution to u.s."
"How are these oils, essences and
tiavors sent to youg'
'Sonle come in bottles others in
the form of powder and some in
grease. What do l mean by grease2
Well, I'll tell you and show you.
Come up stairs with me.
Upon entering the chemists room
the reporter was shown about doz
en- large tin vessels tightly covered.
The lid of one was removed and
strong odor arose from the milky
mass of oleaginous matter within.
Resuming the conversion, the chem
list said:
This is what absorbs the perfume
of the flowers, and the process is very
simple. We take large wire seive
with very small meshes; upon the
surface is spread layer of raft n ed
grease. The delicate petals of the
odor-giving flowers are then spread
loosely on this layer. Then another
layer of fat is spread on. then layer
of petals, and so on till the sieve is
filed. 1t is then subjected to degree
of temperature almost sufficient to
cause the grease to melt. The heat is
gradually increased until the grease
becomes liquid and runs through the
meshes OF the sieve into these tin rats
below, being fully charged with the
perfume of the flowers. The leaves
remain in the sieve, and when the
fat becomes cold they are mixed with
it again and the same process is re-
peated. Some of the second distilla
ton is run through the sieve with the
flowers, which are then finally des>
poiled of their fragrance. The double
and triple extracts known to the trade
are obtained by the last two process,
es. The grease holding the oil of the
flowers is sold for soap fat here, but
in Europe they use it for pomade.
We then take the perfume, or oil ex>
tracied, mix it with other perfumes
and spirits, let it lie as long as posi-