The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1889-01-03
PERFUMES.
Articles Used In the Composition OF the
Leading Odors.

articles Used In the Composition OF the
! Leading Odors.
The rose is one of the most valuable
of the limited series of flowers availa-
BILE to the perfumer, says lln. San Fran
cisco Chronicle. When dried it is use
full in sachets or scented powder; dis
titled it yields rOse-water and the we'll
known altar; and subjected to enfleur-
age it gives oil, pomade, and alcoholatp
/ The variety chiefly used is the hun
drrd-leavrd rosa leutlfOlia, aud is
grown for commercial purposes most
extensively iu Turkey, India, and in
the south of France.
| Of the citrine family, consisting of
the two great divisions of lemons and
oranges, the bitter or Seville orange
is the most valuable species of the per-
fumer. Its flowers yield the altar
known as the oil of neroli, or nerolv,
and by enfieurage pomade and alco-
holate of delightful fragrance. The
rind of the ripe fruit contains useful
oil. and the small unripe berries and
leaves also furnish one. Another or
, ange 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 altar of cedrat
BY enfeurage the modest violet
yields an odor which is universally ad-
| mircd for its delicacy and its sweet
ness. The chief violet beds are at
Nice, where the plants are bedded in
the shade of orange or acacia groves.
Approximations of the scent of the
violet are found in the acacia, the
Orris. and in myallwood, q native of
Australia The acacia referred to is
+, small tree or shrub which grows only
in southern ATTITUDES. and the flowers,
which are yellow and about the size of
large pea, are cassie flowers. These
are treated by enheurage. Cassie must
not be confounded with cassia, which
is the common cinnamon.
The tuberose is a bulbous plant, first
noticed by old writer's as the Indian
hyacinth. The odor is obtained by
enileurage aud is not only favorite
in its pure state but enters into the
formation of the most recherche bOu-
quets. France, Italy, and Spain con-
tain the chief gardens of the tuberose.
The ylang-ylang Glover Of flowers)
is the blossom of large tree native in
the islands of the India archipelago.
It's native Tagai name is the ihlang-
ihlang, the Malays. call It kanonga,
and TO botanists il is known as unOna
odoratissima. The flowers remind one
somewhat of the locust blossom. Their
color is u greenish yellow and they
possess an odor resembling a mixture
of jasmine and lilac, so powerful that
it scents the air for miles. The ylang-
ylang was first discovered by a chem
ist at Manila in 1867. 1t is now
largely manufactured there and at
Singapore.
Lavender, rosemary, and patchouly
are all herbs, The two former arc
quite well known in this country; the
last named is an Indian plant resem-
bling our garden sage. To the natives
it is known us putchapat, both leaves
and stems yielding an altar of great
strength and very peculiar odor.
OF the spice series cloves and emma.
mon are the only ones that are much
used in perfumery, and these are
chiefly employed in soaps. The Glove
4 is largely cultivated in the West Indies
and the Malacca islands, while the
]
but comes from q smaller tree and has
a milder Odor and'flavor, with faint
touch of mushiness. Cassia comes
from China, the true cinnamon from
Ceylon.
The OdorOus grasses, natives of In
dia, furnish affairs of extensive useful
ness. One is lemon grass, having a
strong resemblance in odor To the
lemon verbena. and from it nearly all
our EXTRACTS of verbena" and eyer
bena water" are made. The other
altar is citronella, perfume which
most persons have made acquaintance
with in the so-called ''home soap"
| The wood of the sandal tree, a ma
tive of tho West Indies, gives curious
odor, greatly admired in oriental
countries and much valued by us. 1t
is both used in substance and distilled
/ for its altar. Vetivert, or kus-kus, a
thread-like Indian root, furnishes
another perfume of the same class as
sandal, but sharper and more ap-
preaching floral odors. The altar of
vetivert is much higher in cost than
even that of roses.
Bitter almonds, though containing
no altar in their natural state, yield
one bySthe reaction of their constitu.
ents in the presence of water. Thus
the still furnishes us the almond odOr,
which, while sickening in itself, finds .
place in minute quantities in many oi
the finest floral compounds.
Vanilla is the capsule of beautiful
creeping plant native in Mexico and
South America. 1t Is generally from
six to ten inches in length, about one
fourth of an inch in diameter, cylin
drical in shape, tapering toward eithe
end and slightly fattened. The colol
is dark brown. The interior contain!
sort of pulp filed with little shining
black seeds. Its flavor and color arr
both familiar.
The origin of ambergris was long
mystery, but it is now known to be
diseased section of the spermacet
whale. 1t is found floating on the sur
face of the sea, aud has an odOr whicl
is extremely unpleasant when pure
but which gives mellowness and per
manency to mixtures.
Civet is 4 dark brown, semi-fluid sc
cretion obtained from the civet cat,
native of Africa and India. 1t
found in an external pouch or recepta
Gle peculiar to this animal. Its prop
critics are in general familiar to amber
girls, but its odOr harmonizes moi
perfectly with floral compounds.
Musk is also secretion, aud is oil
tanned from the musk-deer, prett
little animal inhabiting the highe
mountain ranges of Tonquin, China
and Thibet. The musk is found in
small pocket or pouch under the bell
| a., Il l,.,;,x off hu
hunters, becomes hard and dry aid pr
serves its contents us an unctuous pov
j der of reddish brown color. Il
powerful, warm, aromatic odor blent
we'll with every other scent and give
them permanency without being intr'
sive.