The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-17
HOW PERFUMES ARE MADE.
Picturesque Industry That Flour
ishes in the Maritime Alps.

From La Nature.
The extraction of perfume is an ex-
ceedingly complex art. The department of
the Maritime Alps is a marvellous garden
that has always given French perfum-
cry an indisputable supremacy, and IS,
moreover, the granary of foreign per-
fumeries The pretty city of Grasse, the
sole center of flowers of the entire world,
has, for several centuries, been the home
of an extensive. interesting and very pc
turesque industry. The cutters, women
and children, at daybreak, before the rays
of the sun have fallen upon the flowers
(and sometimes called by the sound of
horn at night when a storm threatens),
assemble, and, excited by the rhythm of
their songs, perch upon the trees or stocp
beneath the bushes to do the gathering.
For the most part these are Italians, since
the ordinary native force does not suf-
fee The cut flowers are put into bags
and carried upon the backs of donkeys
to the works, where they are received by
girls who sort them and spread them
out upon the pavement of a cool nan,
where the manipulation comes TO get them.
There are two sorts of fowers-thoSe
in which the perfume exists entirely con-
densed before beginning to evaporate and
those in which it is gradually produced
a few moments only before it is disen-
gagged. Hence arise two different meth
DDS. The flowers that readily give up their
concrete odor by rapid and violent means
are treated by Oscillation, while the
others require a slower and more delicate
process-the use of a solvent.
Here is presented a second difficulty;
that of separating the essential Oil from
rosin, tannin and impurities. A solvent
of the essential oil win, as general
thing carry along a portion of these sub
stances. If, for example, the oil Is solu-
bic in the aqueous liquids that impregnate
the tissues of the flower, IL will partake
of the i'll odor thereof. On the other
hand, if it is too active, 1t Will XIII the
plant and prevent the odor from develop
ing. The solvent used is mixture OF
beef suet and lard washed, melted AID
prepared with the greatest care. 1t may
be replaced by very pure olive oil or
highly refined neutraline oil.
Such are the two principal methods
distillation and solution. The latter,
when performed in the warm way, Is
called maceration, and, in the cold, en-
fleurage.
Maceration is applied to the violet,
cassia. ionauil. rose and orange flower.
Women standing in front of a water
bath stove melt the fat in timed basins
called "bugaders." Into these they
throw the flowers. and keep them sub
merged, by means of a spatula, at tenn
perature of about Go degrees for half an
hour Then they take them out, dram
them and pass the amagamated resldua,
heated by boiling water, into a hydraulic
press in order to remove the last traces
of fatty matter. But a single maceration
does not suffice to perfume the suet,
which is so far scarcely odoriferous. me
workmen then take this same rat, re-
charge 1t with flowers and rebegin the
operation, and proceed until the fatty
body has acquired the desired strength.
1t is estimated that IL takes five pounos
of flowers to perfume pound OF lat
With certain flowers twenty-five treat
ments are required
Enheurage is employed for the jasmine
and tube-rose. In the beginning It was
performed in double plates called
thames" and capable OF holding twelve
ounces Of pomadei From the teglnning
of the present century, wooden frames
three inches deep, twenty-tour lnches IN
width, and thirty-eight incnes In length,
and with a glass bottom, have been used.
A layer of fat is spread upon this glass
by means of a spatula, and upon this are
directly laid the flowers. The frames are
arranged in piles of forty one upon an
other. The flowers are thus enclosed be-
tween two frames, which form small,
close, cool chamber, in which the aroma
develops under the best conditions posi-
BILE. The next day the flowers are re-
placed by fresh ones, and so on until the
pomade has acquired a sufficient strength
OF perfume. In order to manufacture per-
fumed oils, use Is made of frames in which
the glass Is replaced by wire gauze upon
which rests a piece of wooden saturated
with oil The perfumed oil is collected by
pressing all the pieces Of wooden.
The process Is very lengthy, and with
the jasmine takes three months. More
over, 1t Is very expensive, on account Of
the material that 1t requires The small
est establishments possess 1900 frames,
and large works 10000. One frame. in
fact, cannot support more than fifteen
ounces of fat, and one piece of wooden
more than two pounds Of oil.
To transform this perfumed fat into ex-
tracts IL is macerated with alcohol.
In the department Of the Maritime Alps
there are annually treated:
100000 pounds of roses.
$4,000 pounds of orange flowers.
40 600 pounds Of jasmnes.
10000 pounds of cassia flowers.
10000 pounds OF tuberoses.
10000 pounds Of vioiets