Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-20

FORMED BY NATURE-How CHOICE SCENTS ARE
nADE-KHE ETIQUETTE OF PERFUMEs
The eostliest article Of ancient commerce
was the heart of aloes. not the medicine, but
the hearswood of the sacred aloes tree, fragrant.
with enduring and inexpressible sweetness, a
treasure in which paid the yearly tribute
OF kings, and a perfume so exquisite and es-
teemed that il was reserved for the use of great
Potentstes and holy temples, OF which neither
trace nor knowledge seems TO exist in this
country. The eastern women perfume their
persons with the smoke Of burning spices till
their flesh is penetrated with odors for days
sfterward, a practice kept up in seraglios
MI the flesh of harem favorite smells
like one OF those tablets Of pressed perfumes
familiar In every collection Of Turkish wares,
In later times at coronation feasts, civic
rlumphs like those which graced the court OF
Sharles OF BeTgundy, fountains of wine and OF
perfumes were part of eyery show, boon to
be thrice thankful for in times when the COM
mon people were, as Erasmus calls them, IN
washed "Ramish clowns" At the entrance Of
Charles the Second into London spray OF per-
fnmed waters was flung upon the multitude,
and among the English and Italian nobility it
was the custom to break eggshells filed with
perfume over the heads of guests at dinner.
The custom has descended to our day in the
sules Of gelatine filled with scent and wrapped
in brilliant papers or silk comets.
POPULAR DEMAND FOR PERFUMES.
With the increase of wealth and refined per-
sonaI habits in this country the use of per-
fumes is no longer the mark Of the rich, but
il is the necessity of all except the very poor In
the large fancy shops confectionery, cheapnovels
mot necessarily poor Ones), scent sachets and
handkerchief perfume rise with every season,
nd thar - 4,..fI Fnr all
IN supplying this growing country with scent
for its handkerchiefs. sachets for its corsages
and walstsoais. and toilet waters for its baths.
The writer has talked with all the leading per-
tuners of New York, and in their business no
complaint Of hard times is heard East. west
and south are alike in appreciation of sweet
odors- OF course the demand for these is the
greatest IN the centers of population, but the
country is no way behind in Its cravings for
toilet Injuries, and il makes up for its lesser
population by the high quality of soaps and
essences ordered. For the family of the rich
farmer, ranchman or planter no Paris extracts
or toilet articles too costly; the very
choicest products are in demand for the rich
southwest, Denver and San Francisco, and
nothing less will answer. Country druggists
say that IN the late war, when a woman
eeived her husbands bounty a soldier, her
hrst purchases we're an outfit of fresh soaps.
Perfumery and cosmetics-things she had
never been able to compass in her stinted life
before. She could and did often work at sew
ing or photograph coloring for a subsistence,
but the available money went for the minor
luxurles, which often mean more to life than
Its coarse necessities. What is life worth with
out Its pleasant sights, sounds and odors?
NATURES OFFICES
One of the most exquisite Offices in nature is
that performed by scents Of flowers in purify
ing the air, and breathing ozone into it by their
perfumes Not all sweet-scented plants do this
all pfpasaut adora ba iivffn ;-
marked between the sedative odors and the re-
ylying ones. Lilies. jasmine, tube rose, orange
flower and acacia in their natural form. borne
on the winds and mixed with many thousand
times their own volume of air are pleasant,
soothing to a healthy sense, though delicate
nerves cannot enjoy them even in their garden
freshness
Brought closer in cluster of blossom. their
odor Is narcotic, depressing. that persons
grow faint at smell OF them, and vet more con-
cenrated their effect Is Supplying and deadly.
Well authenticated instances abound of persons
sent into heavy slumber. as il drugged BY the
odor of lilies or Jasmine and the scent of
orange flowers is so depressing TO the action Of
the heart that 1t IL not safe for any one with
disease of that organ to inhale it any length of
time. 1t Is not at all imagination when nervous
susceptible persons complain of discomfort
from the powerful scent of flowers or essences
Of any sort.
THE REvIvISG SCENTS
arise from heroaeeous plants largely, from the
odors OF rose, mignonette, lavender, thyme
and lemon verbena, balsamic rosemary. and,
chief Of all, the carnation family, including
spicy stocks, wallhower and pinks Not quite
AL sorts, Tor the fringed garden pink distils
with It's sweet spice breath of laurel ether
Ike that Of cherry blossoms which make the
bees drunk in their Overblown boughs. The
scent OF Glove carnations is one OF natures
finest stimulants, and a garden border full of
them a cOrdon of 1alicafa lfafo g.,
as its odOr spreads. So far however the per
rune OF the carn2tlon proves inimitable. the
most skillful perfumers making their perfumes
heavy by a base Of jasmine added to the Glove
ether. The jasmine is just too much, and no
sense seems delicate enough to discern what
needs to accompany the Glove odor to resolve
II into pure carnation breath. This serves TO
illustrate the difficulties which the perfumer
mas 10 meet with IN his aerial, tantaliZing chem
lstry. The scale of odors is fixed as a scale of
music Combine such and such notes and har-
mony results. but the intervals Of the perfume
octaves are semItones and tones of infinite
DIVISION, and mortal sense is seldom fine enough
10 seize them with intelligent precision The
Swedish chemist Lundborg, who has given
his name TO some OF the choicest perfumes of
american make, was one of these natural al
chemists Trained in the careful study of nat
ural sciences common to Swedish universities
he ran away from home and followed a wan
dering life for years, till he settled in a New
YORK laboratory as dispensing chemist to n firm
of manufacturing perfumers Lundborg was
natural genius. quaint, recluse devoted to his
Researches, and many a girl who sprinkles her
kerchief with the perfume which adds the
nnai charm to her presence has reason to
thank the ugly, peculiar Swede for a pleasure
she would be very sorry to lose. Imagine the
world robbed OF its perfumes at a stroke. no
fragrant waters for the toilet, no scent-disguis-
ing lotions, soaps or p0mades, but everything
In It's bald, original odor. One would be thank
ful Tor Whit Of cedronella or cheap hello
Tope, methinks. or a cheap cologne.
THE PROCESS OF MAKING Perfumes.
The process of making perfumes has been
given to the public over and over again. How
the thousands Of acres Of Mediterranean flower
farms on the high lands, 1000 feet or more
above the warm sea in Sicily, the Riviera i'm
Bulgaria, AMI the Cashmere plateaus of Persia
yield thousands OF pounds of petals from the
most ordorlferous flowers in the world, far sur
passing IN fragrance the products of lower val
leys and heated regions. How layers OF the
nnest Clarified suet mixed with olive oil spread
In glass trays are covered with flower petals two
inches deep to absorb their sweetness How,
after lying under the flowers. acacia. jasmine
violet, orange flower and lemon, rose and tube
rose for weeks, the odorous precious pomade is
shipped IN bulk to perfumers all over the
world Their first work is to dissolve in the
nnest deodorized alcohol as much of the fat as
r viii take up, forming the triple extract
WHICH IL the base of all perfumes sold This
maceratlon OF the Hover pomade is finished by
cold, not by heat, a. most people imagine The
extract must be chilled to secure the excess of