The Bourbon news., 1902-02-21
HEALTH VALUE OF SCENTS.
some Ideas of the Ancients to which
Science of the Present Is Pay
ing Attention.

Science at present shows tendency
to turn back to some of the beliefs Of
the ancients regarding scents centur-
les ago. Scents were accounted more
than luXurieK.
Odorous herbs, notablyvervain, ward
ed off the evil eye. The Mosaic ritual is
full of hyssop. nard and frankinceIse.
Greece set cinnamon gates to its ely
sium. and surrounded ii with scented
river hundred cubits broad, which
souls swan through and thereby
purged themselves of earthly gross
ness, says an eastern exchange.
Pliny records IS remedies derived
from odorous rue, Al whose base was
mint, 80 balms from roses, 21 from
lilies, bulb and bloom and II medica~
ments strong in the virtue of violets-
Thus it appears that the violet cure
for cancer is among the very new
things that surface science scorned be-
cause they were so very old.
Now. say various experts, one must
choose and use perfumes with an eye'
or rather nose, TO health. So 1t IS
worth while to set down the properties
attributed to various perfumes.
Pure violet essence is said to be es-
pecially suitable to nervous people.
But it must be obtained from the
flowers themselves, not the chemical
limitations. Chemically derived per-
fumes are irritant. poisonous even, to
persons of especially sensitive constl-
tuition.
True flower scents are obtained in
three ways: First, by spreading fresh
blossoms upon glass thickly smeared
with pure grease, letting them stand in
the sun. and as they wilt replacing
them until the grease is as fragrant as
the flowers; second. by repeatedly in
fusing fresh petals in oil; and, third.
by infusing them in ether, which is
then distilled to dry solid.
As this solid sells for $3.50 an ounce,
it is easy to understand why the
ether process, though far and away
the best, is nos commonly used. But
the scented grease and the essences
made by sleeping it in pure spirit
| are never cheap After all the scent
possible has been extracted from the
grease it is still fragrant enough to
make the very finest perfumed soap.
All the citrene scents, bergamot,
nerol, orange-flower water-are re-
freshing, and in a degree stimulat-
ing, if properly prepared. To make a
tasting perfume some animal base is
sn1 mi
If the base is too strong, it makes
the fower-scent curiously irritant.
| People who feel themselves faint in
a crowded room, are often the vic
Tins of several scents Simultaneous
! Iy attacking their nerves. A single
odor, no matter how strong, after
awhile deadens the olfactOry nerves,
whereas a com bination keeps them
active.
Hay fever, wl.fch, it is believed by
some, arises from the irritant prop
critics of fine oGorous pollen yielded
by grass and wheat fields, is IN a
way type of perfume action. Scant
particles in general are not strong
enough or acrid enough to seS up
violent. ills None the less, they have
their effect. Witness the refreshment
of lavender water when one is faint
from heat or crowding. Lavender is
peculiarly suited to high-strung tenn
peraments. 1t is soothing as well as
refreshing, without being unduiy
stimulating.
jasmine should always be used
pure. Alone it tones and braces the
whole system, but in almost all is
compounds is singularly depressing.
Neroli is the exception. Jasmine and
neroh together in faint essence make
the scent of scents for all who hare
| hySterical tendencies.