The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-20
SCENTS AND PERFUMES.
From the New York Press.

From the New York Press
Women who habitually use certain
perfume come to be known by their
scent. Most of the famous women Of
history had their favorite ottos, or at
tars. Queen Victoria was partial to
opopanax. Cleopatra's choice was jas
mine. Semiramis preferred otto Of
roses, made from fragrant damasks in
her own hanging gardens in Babylon.
The Queen of Sheba used an otto made
of cinnamon. Musk was popular
among the great ladies of France in
the time of Louis XIV. Women of this
day use violet, Jockey Club, white rose,
heliotrope, verbena, vanilla, tuberose,
jonquil, etc.
The French Medical Review asserts
that the human skin posses a certain
odor which varies according to the in
dividual, the age and the race. This
was noted by Rider Haggard in "Al-
Ian Quartermain" When Umslopo-
gaus and Quartermain sat in the tree
together waiting to kill elephants on
dark night the Zulu moved away
from the lee of the white man, not
relishing the white mans personal es-
sence. The nervous system is said to
exert much influence over the odor of
the cutaneous secretions. Hammond
cites the case of a woman who always
gave out the odor of pineapple when
she was in temper, and that of an
other who emitted a violet odor when
suffering from a hysterical attack.
When the rattlesnake is excited and
angry you can smell him a quarter of
a mile. He perspires freely in a ner-
vous fit, and the odor of his cutaneous
secretion fills the air. Curious
emotions are produced by odors rem
iniscent of certain events in ones life.
Each of us has experienced them. Per-
sons afflicted with rheuma tism and
govt often suffer the most extraordi-
nary night sweats, and for weeks af
terward their garments retain an odor
peculiar to the individual sleeping in
them. The most careful, laundering
fails TO remove it. 1t must gradually
fade away This leads me to believe
that the odor of the human skin is like
unto musk, the power of which to i'm
part odor is such that polished steel
will become fragrant of it If the metal
be shut in box where there Is musk,
contact not being necessary.
What a strange perversity of fate 1t
is that the finest perfumes in the
world should come from the filthy Bull
garians! The rose industry of that
people seems most homogeneous, yet
last year some 10000 pounds of otto of
roses were produced, at an average
value of, say S. an ounce. Perhaps
Miss Stone learned something of rose
propagation when she was in the
hands of the brigands.
Without attempting TO enter upon
treatise on the manufacture of per-
fumes, should like to know why most
of the ottos or affairs of the day so
quickly lose their fragf ance, and why
they all leave behind the utterly nau-
seaous odor of bee-bread, which is the
food laid up by bees for their winter
sustenance. What perfumes are used
or the gloves we buy? They cause
cne's hands to stink! Gloves that cost
81. so a pair are no better in this re-
spect than those costing 81. Whence
Genes that disagreeabfe Spanish
leather odor? Why does Russia leath-
Ell retain it's peculiar smell for years,
even when worn on the person? From
sandalwood and birch oil? 1t is said
that russell leather came originally
from Spain, with its peculiar scent.
The first perfumes are obtained by
the combustion of aromatic woods and
gums. and THEM original use was in
sacrifices, to counteract the offensive
odors of the burning flesh. Hence the
Latin-per and fumare. through
smoke" Every man to his own perr
fume-and dogs and horses recognize in
every man that Individuality of effiur
vium without which neither could
track it's master. The highly educated
pointer on the farm, the all-around
! hunters takes his. orders to find quail
to-day. rabbits tomorrow, turkeys the
next day. and SO on, and when after
one kind of game never allows anoth-
err to interfere with his duty. It is all
very wonderful.