Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-10-10
LEADING PERFUMES.
LIMITED NUMBER OF MATERIALS
USED IN THEIR PRODUCTION.

Are Indebted for the Majority of Our
Delicious Popular scents-A List Of
Materials.
The rose is one of the most valuable OF the
limited series of flowers available to the per-
fumer. When dried it is useful in sachets or
scented powders; distilled, it Yields rose
water and the well known otto. and SUBJ
Jected to enfieurage it gives oil, pomade and
alcoholate. The variety chiefly used is the
hundred leaved Rosa Centifolia, and is grown
for commercial purposes most extensively in
turkey, India and in the south of France.
Inc otto OF rose is light yellow or straw
eoiored liquid, possessing in a high degree Of
concentration the characteristic odor Of the |
mower, and diffusiveuess and persistency |
mat render it Of great service to the per- |
fumer.
VI the citrine family, ouasisting Of the
Two great divisions of lemons and oranges,
.ne bitter II Seville orange is the most val
seS.s- SSscles to the perfumer. Its flowers
yield the otto known as the oil of neoroh, or
neroly, and by enHeurage a pomade and al
coholate Of delightful fragrance. The-rind
of the ri.~ fruit contains useful oil, and
the small uuripe berries and leaves also fur
nish one. Another orange of importance is
that known as the Bergamia, from which the
oil of bergamot is produced. The common
lemon gives an essence having both perfume
and flavor; while from the citron is taken
the truly delightful essence known as the
otto Of cedrat.
BY eufeurage the modest violet yields an
odor which is universally admired for its
delicacy and sweetness The chief violet
beds ara ut Nice where the plants are bedded
IN the shade Of orange or acacia groves. APP
proximaIious OF the scent of the violent are
found in TIN acHcia, the orris and in myall-
wood, a natIv. oi Australia The acacia re-
ferred to is a small tree or shrub which grows
only in southern ATTITUDES, and the flowers,
which are yellow and about the size of
large Pea, are sled cassie flowers. These
are ti,,ased j. cn1eurage Cassie must not
e-asia45Sfounded with cassia, which is the COM
mon cinnamon
The tuberose is dubious plant, first no
ticed by old writers as the Indian hyacinth
The odor is Obtained by enheurage and is
not only favorre in its pure state, but en-
ters into the formation Of the most recherche
bouqpetS France, Italy and Spain contain
the chief gardens of the tubercse, although
there Is no reason why IN this industry, as in
so many Others California should not enter
the competing field.
The ylau---lau- Arwcr Of flowers is the
blossom OF a large tree native in the islands
of the India archipelago, Its native Tagal
name is the lh-IaHg-ulany, the &alays call
it Kanonga. and TO botanists it is known as
Unoua odoratissina, The flowers remind
one somewhat OF the locust blossom. Their
color Is a greaniSI yellow, and they possess
an odor resembling a mixture of jasmine
and lilac, 50 powerful that it scents the air for
miles. The ylanS-ylaug was first discovered
by chemist al Manila in 1861 1t is now
largely manufactured there and at Singa-
pore.
Lavender, rosemary, and patchouly are all
herbs The two turmC- are quite well known
in this country, the last named is an Indian
plant resembling our garden sage. To the
natives it is known as putchapat both leaves
and stem Welding an otto OF great strength
and very peculiar odor.
OF the spice series cloves and cinnamon
are the only ones that are much used in per-
fumery, and these are chiefly employed in
soaps The Glove tree is largely cultivated
in the West Indies and the Malacca Islands;
while the cinnamon is not the bark OF COM
merce, but comes from a smaller tree and has
miidsr odor and favor, with u faint touch
OF muskiness, Cassia comes from China, the
true cinnamon from Ceylon.
Two odorous grasses, natives of India, fur
niSh ottos Of extensive usefulness. One is
lemon grass, having a strong resemblance in
odor TO the lemon verbena, and from il
nearly all our EXTRACTS of verbens7 and
''verbena water are made. The other otto
Is citronella, q perfume which most persons
have made acquaintance with in the 50 called
''honey soap"
The wood Of the sandal tree, a native OF
the West Indies, gives a curious odor, greatly
admired in Oriental countries and much val
ued By US. II is both used in substance and
distilled for its otto Vetivert, or kus-kus, a
thread like Indian root, furnishes another
perfume OF tBe same class as sandal, bu-
sharper and more approaching floral odors
It is a strong and durable odor that gives it
characteristic 10 the cashmere bouquet
soap. The otto Of vetivert IS much higher il
cost than even that of roses.
Bitter almonds, thrgh containing no Otto
in their natural state, yield one by the re
action Of their constituents in the presenc
of water. Thus the still furnishes US tn
almond odor, which, while sickeniug in itself
finds place in minute quantities in many 0
the finest floral compounds.
Vanilla is the capsule of a beautiful CREEP
ing plant native in Mexico and SoutI
America. It Is generally from six to te
inches in length about one-fourth of a
inch in diameter, cylindrical in shape, taper
ing toward either end and slightly nattened
Ia fr,ig g. 10
tains a sort OF pulp filed with little shinin
black seeds. Is flavor and odor are bot
familiar
The origin Of ambergris was long my
terry, but 1t is now known to he q disease
secretion Of the spermaceti whale. 1t
found floating on the surface Of the sea an
has an ordor which is extremely unpleasai
when pure, but which gives meIlowness ar
permaneney TO mixtures.
Civet is a dark brown. semi-auid secretic
obtained from the civet cat, a native
Africa aud India l. is found in an extern
pouch or receptacle peculiar to this anims
Its properties are in general similar to al
bergris but is odor harmonizes more pe
fectly with floral compounds.
Musk is also a secretion, and is obtain
from the musk deer, a pretty little amin
ihhabluhS the hI-ber mountain ranges
Tonquin, China and Tnibet The musk
found in a small pocket or pouch under t
belly Of the deer, and. being cut of by t
hunters, becomes hard and dry and preserv
its contents as an unctuous powder Of a re
dish brown color. Its powerful, warm, al
matte odor blends well with every 9th
scent and gives them permanency witho
being intrusive.
1t may seem little surprising that fro
this limited list Of materials such a variety
perfumes can be made Tut these few distir
types have many relations. 1t is this knol
edge, togeth-- with the art Of blending, Il
permits the perfumer to initiate inaccessi
blossoms. 1t is true his efforts are not alwt
successful, but, on the other hand, ma
artificial essences are wonderfully like
original and give the perfumes at will VIII
would otherwise be Ours but for few we,
or days Of the year-Ssn Francisco Chr,
icle
SKILL OF THE HANDS.