Evening star., 1901-11-16
LOVERS OF PERFUME
e2f-1sgeyFE o. -r..,------- - s's s-
Favorite Scents oUsed BY Famous
Men, and Women
IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES
e---
From CLEOPATRA, to the Duchess
of York and Cornwall
BUT THE FASHIONS CHANGE
BUT THE FASHIONS CHANGE

written ior Inc Evening star.
| Arabia has long been known as the land
| of perfumes. yet the Egyptians, who used
| them extensively, both for sacred rites
and for household purposes imported
| them first from Persia, whence gums and
spices were brought by caravans across the
desert.
From the earliest times. all cultivated ma
tions have been fond of perfumes. Bottles
of scents and boxes of fragrant ointments
nave been found in the ruins of Pompeii.
1t was custom of ancient Arabfans and
egyptians to use rose water to sprinkle the
floors of apartment, and the Romans strew-
ed with the saffron pant their banqueting
halls.
The orieptals have always reveled in
strong .perfumes-the warmer the climate
| the greater the fondness for them, as the
sun brings out fragrance, SO 1t seems also
to foster love for it. We read of mosque
with the mortar of which musk was used,
and afthough centuries have faded since 1t
was pullt, It still gives out its rich odor
when the SUN shines upon it.
,Ihat the ancient Greeks were perfume
lovers is proved by their Elysium which
was a golden city with emerald ramparts,
ivory pavements and cinnamon gates.
Around the wall flowed a river Of per-
fumes, wide enough and deep enough to
swim in, and from 1t rose an odorous mist
which dropped d fragrant dew.
The far-famed perfumes of the east were
the favorite .spoils brought home to their
lady loves by the gallant knights of the
crusades and no treasure could have been
I more valued, for it was believed that
oriental women retained their charms be-
cause they lived in an atmosphere of fra
| GRANGE, which kept them in state of
dreamylanguor very favorable to beauty.
From sanitary point of view the use of
perfumes is valuable; although they have
no great curative powers they are so re-
| freshing they assist in restoring an invalid
to health. Alcoholic perfumes and essences
are particularly useful in cases of illness
| as deodorizers; for instance, lavender wa
ter, made in England. and lemon verbana
| water, made in the Island of Guernsey, are
| old and deserving favorites, both for the
| sick room and for use in the bath
Inc hrst alcoholic essence known was
the celebrated Hungary water, invented by
| Elizabeth of Hungary, by the use Of which
| she is said to have retained her beauty
| until she was past seventy years of age
WiIhelmina's Bath.
Next to Hungary water, eau de cologne
| is the most ancient spirituous perfumes,
and the youngest queen of our time is
probably the greatest Individual consumer
| Of asWlhelmina' of the Netherlands uses
| an entire champagne bottle of this aro-
| matte esseIfce every morning, and so in
| tent is her majesty on getting the best of
| this her faVorite toilet water, that she has
! the bottle opened in her presence, shifts it,
| assures herself of its high quality by
| test over a lamp and then pours it into the
| bath, which, is large marble affair, built
| into the floor and reached by five steps
| Her majesty remains seven minutes in the
| bath-rather brief enjoyment of SO much
| excellent eau de cologne:
| The great Napoleon was fond of this
| liquid perfume as Queen Wilhelmna is.
| and even att st. Helena he had it furnished
| for his bath. His allowance was less lib
| era1 than hers, heweveT; the imperial exile
fr hfyVn-r nfaf
| a day. And Sir Richard Burton, the re-
nowned explorer, cared for no other per-
| fume but in all his dangerous, nomadic life
| he kept his fondness for that one dainty
luxury. s-,-. hG>- s''. RI" - .@..
r.7 ssT CIeopatra's Weapon.
| When Egypt was the great mart for aro-
| matics, Cleopatra made a lavish use of
! them. They were among the means of Sc
duction she brought into play at her first
| interview with Mark Antony on the banks
| of the Cydnus, which is so beautifully de-
| scribed by Shakespeare: Cleopatra in her
| barge with Furnished poop and sails so
| sweet that all the winds were lovesick with
| them while spices were kept burning
the banks s-.,.r -
Charlemagne was another sovereign of
/ past ages devoted to perfumes; he had the
| walls of his palace sprinkled with them.
! Matilda, queen Of Henry of England,
always had on her dining table silver
bird set with precious stones, the body
| being a receptacle for rose. water. p. g.,
Until Elizabeth Came.
| Perfumes were not in general use in
! England before the reign of Queen Eliza
| beth, though they were never-not even in
I Egypt-richer, more popular or more cost
ly than in her time. Sweet candles were
| burned in the bed rooms, sweet cakes were
| thrown upon the fire to diffuse gentle odors,
rose water was handed after dinner in sill
kop ~, fro ,
Golfers, pomanders made of gold or silver,
chased and perforated, to let the fragrance
Eescape hung from girdle and chain; bottles
| of perfume, called casting bottles" were
! worn and carried by men and woman; the
wearing apparel of knight lord and lady
was fragrant with delicate scents. The
queen wore perfumed gloves and shoes
made of perfumed leather, and it was she
who introduced the fashion, recently again
| so much in vogue, Of silk and satin sachets
| in the writing desk among the letter paper.
| This extreme fashion continued in Eng
land until Beau Brummel declared against
it for men, and its decline in excess dates
| from that time But Lord Byron returned
| to the old fashion and always carried a
| little scent case, made out Of a walnut
shell, which had a gold-mounted rim and
held two gold-stoppered bottles.
A Louis XIV Fancy.
A fancy of Louis XIV, which became a
court fashion, was to use perfumes in rou-
| tine, the apartments of the royal palaces
| being one day balmy with tuberoses, the
| next with musk, the next with saffron, &C.
The Empress Josephine was passionately
fond of perfumes, and sweet-scented her
complexion daily with milk which had been
poured. betting' Il over r basin of fresh vio-
~ a-r ysb efni7,oGr Day.
l.. The puae9hssss 9hss ef CORNWALL and York is so
| fond of Atkinson Jaw hite Rose" that it
BECAME greatly IN fashion in. England at
| the time ofnher marriage and still retains
Its popularity 80
In AMERICA, ( hewever, the famous epi-
gram of Henry Ward Beecher in regard to
perfumes--0the Ideasantest smell of all is
| no smell seems to have perVaded the re-
fined feminine element. and even sachets
are no, longer used by fashionable people,
either among edothing or letter paper
Dress suggesters.
From the Nsyyb, Nsyyb b,Y9FK et s Sun
In the ponrers quarters of Paris five wo-
men spendafhe greater part of their time
bending over pieces of stiff white muslin,
which they ends3vor to shape into some