, 1888-09-16
THE USE OF PERFUMES.


A Delightful Practice, if Not over Ip-
dulged INA PitiabIe Mistake.
The refinements of the ancients varied
in almost every way from those of q
modern age, except, perhaps, in some of
the uses appertaining to the toilet. and
the Scriptures, as well as other records
of ancient customs, bear testimony that
baths and clean linen, perfumes and
sweet odors were regarded quite as much
of a luxury then as now. Few are, per-
haps, aware that the origin of the use of
manufactured perfumes had a sacred
character, yet they were an invention Of
the priests who offiCiated at the sacrifcial
affairs in the olden temples, and. doubt
less, great necessity must nave been the
mother of invention, for from the
slaughtered beasts must have arisen most
noXious emanations, which all the water
in the land would not have washed clean
without the aid of the perfumes of Ara
bia. Moses leaves a record of the exact
perfumes and incense which were used
in the temples, although in biblical days
the latter was termed frankincense, and
was, moreover, with myrrh and gold,
the most valued article of commerce.
The incense which contained myrrh
was especially reserved for the purifica-
ton of the body after sacrifice and used
by both men and women, though, of
course, the latter were only anointed by
the former. 1t has a very aromatic
odor. For other purposes frankincense
was mixed with charcoal and a little
saltpeter. The same burning of incense
continues to this day to be a part of the
ceremonious rites in certain religions.
Moreover, the sale of pastiles Tor little
cones or sticks of ~incense) for burning in
private houses is growing largely, and
many of our rich families live in an at
mosphere as heavily laden with sweet,
subtle odors as Cardinal Richelieu of
Pompey. Moses is also said to have in
structed the Egyptian priests in the
science of extracting scents, and they
grew most proficient in the art of per-
fumery and invented a most eXtraordi-
nary variety. In fact, to this day has
descended the custom of declaring any
faint, sweet, strange odor to be like an
Egyptian perfume.
Opinions differ about the use and abuse
of sweet scents. Certainly there is an
incongruity in their use by men, but a
woman who leaves behind her a subtle
ems of redolenCe carries always a double
charm. Strong, active, energetic natures
are apt TO scorn an indulgence in what is
S o grateful to their opposites-languid,
luxury loving people. Yet the natural
odor of flowers about the house are CRATE
full to all for their sweetness, as well as
for their beauty, and to those flowers to
which Mother Earth has refused a fra
GRANGE we give but half the care which
is showered upon those that can crafty
n double sense. To some poor unfortu-
a. A. n -. II -. -
of flowers, is distasteful, and not always
from association. Even further thar
that, the disliked odors render some per-
sons quite i'll.
With age the sense of smell is affected,
and, like the other senses, grows weak,
and some elderly ladies, especially those
who have been beautiful, worldly women,
much fiattered and admired, absolutely
reek with the strong bouquet of some
perfumery. Their Inconsistencies is
pitiable, their vanity deplorable, for it
would wound them too greatly to sug-
gest a lessening of their indulgence, and
they must be allowed to reek on. The
olfactory nerves are capricious things,
and the aroma which makes them dilate
with pleasure at one time is quite disa-
greeable at another. They easily become
surfeited with an overdose.
Women generally nave a habit of tuck
ing little bags of sachet powder in their
bureau drawers and pinning them in
their dresses, but they as generally are
indiscriminate in choosing the odors,
sometimes buying heliotrope, sometimes
violet, and again rose. There is much
more refinement and daintiness of feel
ing, beside a quaint, and certainly sweet,
%coquetry, in keeping always a perfume
of ones own; it becomes then always a
part of ones being. If one is FOND of
the fragrance of the rose an investment
in a few of the long peculiar walls con-
tanning altar of rose and keeping them in
various places amid the possessions is a
much more enduring way of pertaining
than using sachet powder.-''S. S. E.
NJ" in Chicago Herald