The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1891-01-09
cuAT Errcs.
Perfumes That Ttckied the Estletfe
Noses OF Ancient GenfIes.

Noses OF Ancient GentIes.
She, who fond of dress, of paint, and place,
Aims but to be a goddess in the face.
Thomson: Winter.
Herodotus says Tat the Scythian women
used to preserve their compilations and
render their hands soft with a paste made
of incense, cedar and cypress wood brayed
together between two stones and mixed
with oil, which they applied before going
to bed. Cosmetics were freely used in
ancient Athens, Oenona. the perfumer Of
Olympus, having brought the knowledge
of perfumes from the mountains of Thes-
sally. Venus is often represented before
her mirror. Being tho Goddess Of Love, it
was her business to make herself attrae-
tive. Minerva, though having a more
masculine aim, was not ayerse to the use
Of odorous ointments. Scion. in his laws,
forbade the use of perfumes to excess, and
Socrates said shrewdly that it was
impossible to distinguish a slave from q
free man if both were perfumed with the
same odor. Aspasia, the accomplished
mistress of Pericles. wrote two volumes on
the use of perfumes.
There was in ancient Greece a particular
odor for each part of the body. There was
mint for the arms, palm-oil rose for the
chest and breast, pomade of mariorum for
TIE hands, ground-ivy and rose as a stimu-
lus in orgies. essence of ounce for lethargy
and dyspepsia, vine leaves for mental
depression and violets for an aid to the
digestion. One of the most valuable gifts
th at a Greek could give a friend was an
alabaster of precious ointment like that
with which Mary anointed Christ, which
the Savior said was against the day of His
burial. In the limo of Queen Elizabeth
perfumes were given in elegant boxes in a
similar manner.
The use Of odors aud perfnmsd cosmetics
was even more common in ancient Rome.
They were universally used by ladies in
the toilet and by men in the bath. Their
composition is learned from Latin writer's.
The instruments considered essential TO a
lsdy's toilet have been found at Pompeii.
The Roman beauty resting at midday, her
pastes and pomades. fabricated according
to an iphnity of recipes, were applied TO
her face and arms. She washed her hands
with a soap coming from Gaal, made of
goats fat and ashes of the beechwood,
perfumed with cinnamon and spikenard
| from Persia. The signs of fever are re-
p,ovad fran bar torrua with n efrfo;l euoh
as can be seen at the museum at Naples.
Her teeth were brushed and her mouth
rinsed with water of Comus and Niceras.
Then came the pedicure and those persons
fluous hair, after which she had her hair
and eyebrows dyed and arranged, her COM
plexion made to assume the fashionable
tint, and with the necessary adjustment of
her apparel she was ready to 60 abroad,
conquering and to conquer. Ii is curious
to remark that the fashionable color of the
hair in ancient Rome was yellow, though
black remained the hue of responsibility.
The famous Messalina. instead of dying
her locks. which were OF q raven black
ness, covered them with a yellow wig
when she went into the public places to
capture the Roman nobility. Bears grease.
still popular, is said to have entered into
composition of a famous pomade made by
Cleopatra. Bean flour, still common in
France. was employed for the same pur-
pose. Ounce juice gave 3 pink tinge to
the fingers. Juice of cypress, myrtle, tie
boiled peel of leeks and other substances
changed the color Of the hair.
The use Of perfumes and cosmetics was
transmitted from France to England and
became excessive during the reign OF
Queen Elizabeth. 1t is theme for the
satire OF Shakespeare. Under the luxurious
reign OF Charles II they were in almost
as universal use as in ancient Greece and
Rome. Later they fell into disfavor, and
SO late as ITO a law was passed by the
English Parliament making it a grave
offence for Q woman OF whatever a2e, con-
dition or profession to seduce or draw into
marriage any one of his Majesty's subjects
by the use of perfume, false hair. Spanish
crepe impregnated with carmine, steel
stays. shoes with high heels or false
haunches-probably meaniag bustles.-
San Francisco Chronicle.