Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-11-29
SCENTS OF TIE ANCIENT.
Perfumery rs Used by tho Nations oi
Antiquity.


Among the steadily augmenting rea-
sons for alarm at Germauy's CONNER
cial aggressiveness, says the Baltl-
more Sun, there was recently men
toned in English and Continental pa
pers the fact that German manufac-
turers are even attempting to control
the trade in perfumes. Their chemists
produce from heretofore unthought-
of sources almost any sort of scent
and essence for toilet and table, which
are exported to all parts of the globe.
AS specially noteworthy are reported
large shipments of perfumery to the
Orient from German ports. The ladies
of the harems of Constantinople,
Cairo, indeed of the whole Mohamme-
dan world, are said to have been won
for these perfumes ''made in Ger
many" and the Levant, the native
land of fragrant extracts, is being
inundated with eau de cologne and
numberless other scents of flowers or
who can tell what substances.
1t is difficult to realize how univer-
sal was the knowledge and use of
scent in ancient time, says Invention.
Greek tradition AYERS that perfume
came direct from Venus toilet, and re-
cipes for essences We're inscribed on
marble tablets all about the temples
of the goddess OF love. Egypt was a
Great mart for all kinds of perfumes.
Women made themselves beautiful
nI, 10 Of OIL
were received in chambers strewn
with flowers. Even the dead were not
forgotten, for the embalmed mummy
was saturated with perfumes and
spices and sweet scents were burned
before their statues.
The ancients thought certain per-
fume had medicinal value. Pliny men
tions eight remedies derived from rue,
thirty-two from rose, four from mint,
twenty-one from the lily and seven
<een from the violet. Thyme has n
tonic quality, and lavender is sooth-
Ing. Patchouli is stimulating, jas
mine Is cheering, while heliotrope is
an irritant. There are those in our
day who think sandal tonic, and its
virtues were known to the Greeks.
who anointed themselves with it for
the Olympian games.
The Jews love Of perfume was so
great that morning and night they
burned sweet incense of myrrh, and
beds were perfumed with aloes and
cinnamon. So Indispensable were
scents considered for the bridal toilet
that one-twelfth Of the bridal dowry
was set apart for their purchase. The
famous balm of Gilead was distilled
from n bush which formerly covered
the mountains of Gilead, but this of
late has become so scarce that only the
Sultan can be supplied.
The trade in perfumes was enorm.
GUS in Greece. Like the Egyptians,
they understood the fascination of
flowers, and an Athenian not only per-
fumed his house but scented his drink
ing vessels with myrrh, the gum of Il
tree which grows in Arabia. To such
an extent was the love of perfume
carried that each part of the body had
its peculiar ungent; the hair required
sweet marjoram, the neck and knees
wild thyme, the arms balsam, the
cheeks and breast palm oil, and the
feet and legs sweet ointment. Indeed,
the perfumers' shops in Athens were
the rendezvous for the discussion OF
politics and intr!gues. The love of
perfumery among the Greeks spread
into Rome, and soon the Roman per-
tuners became so famous that 6
bunch of sage indicated their shops.
A Roman lady frequently kept one
slave to sprinkle her hair.
The rulers of the earth have, like
many of their subjects, favorite per-
fumes. Kaiser Wilhelm II. writes a
Vienna contemporary, prefers Gar
den of the Parish Priest" but occa-
sionally uses Ylang- Ylang, corylopsis
and Iris. The Empress Augusta Vic
toria's favorite is hayscent, and for
her private room eau de cologne. Both
she and the children use spermaceti
soap. The Gar has a weakness for
scents, but his especial favorite is un-
known. He uses peau dEspagne
powder. L ne SZaTlHa prefers NloieI
perfume for the handkerchief; her
rooms and corridors are sprinkled with
jonquil and jasmine. Savon la peau
d'Espagne is her Majesty's favorite
soap, although she uses occasionally
creme duckesse. The Queen Dowager
of Italy, Margherita, prefers Cologne
water and uses Palermo soap. King
Victor Emmanuels favorite scent is
heliotrope. The Crown Prince of
Roumania is fond of rosewater. King
Oscar ii. of Sweden makes use of
chypre, and for his beard brillantine
powder. Sultan Abdul Hamid in
dulges in mixture of lilacs and viol-
cts.