The sun., 1909-05-23
SWEETEST OF TOWNS.
Grasse, In the French Riviera, Perfumes
the World.

SWEEFEST or TOBNS.s.--., ~
Grasse. In the French Riviera, Perfumes
the World.
The sweetest town In the world ID
Grasse. In the foothills back OF Cannes
on the French Riviera. All through the
year Grasse Is really one big bubbling
oauldron where are distilled gallons.
barrels, hogaheads Of perfumes -
In the spring violete. roses and mar.
oissus form the principal ingredients.
In the fall Jasmine and tuberose. All The
flowers arc grown In the open sun. except
the violets, which, requiring shade. are
hidden between rows Of olive trees,
The flower piolkers Of Grasae and
the flower girls and flower wonsn
Of the .Jeu de Ballon.' says tbs
Ladys Pictorial, form far more
picturesque element than the perfume
makers of the factories where The fYag-
rance is distilled. Coihed with great.
fat, pancake hats Of plated straw the
flower pickers cannot fail to impress ono.
With them are their helpers with square
flower laden baskets on their backs and
smile-the traditional smile Of southern
Europe-on their faces.
fumsry Of commerce Is made. It Is a. :
varied as the flowers which mako up the
inEredients. Primarily the essential OIL
or otto Of flower il obtained only by dis-
tillation. The residue b then mxsd
with clarified or refined pork fat by boiling
in great copper kettles, and being stirred
constantly with wooden pestle during
the operation. ''"se
1t is this boiling down with fat thss
gathers the perfume to itself. The I'M
permeated grease is then churned up with
refined alcohol In another osuIdron until
all, or nearly all. the perfume has passed
into the spirit.
The fat remaining. with q shght Inn.
pregnation still left to 1t. Is made into
soap, a by-product which is no inoonsid-
erable factor in the turnover Of tho
establishment. though often enough this
left over product is simply sold to another
concern whose business 1t is to work II
up into toilet soap and sell 1t under mora
or less poetic names. ,...-..,,..j4
A more primitive method OF maxine
perfume Is that which was in use At the
beginning Of the industry at Grssse.
This method prescribes that coarse linen
or cotton cloth should be first inpreG. ,
mated with the finest olive oil. thon.
Upon this cloth are placed thin layers
OF flowers. the layers being changed many
times until the oil impregnated cloth has
absorbed a saturated solution OF oil and
perfume. This cloth and it's precious
burden are sfterward treated with an
alcohol bath. which In turn separates tho
perfume from the oil
Another method for extra citing the psr+
fumes from the flowers is that Of en-
heurage BY this means the most delicate
Of essences are yielded indirectly by bong
allowed to filter slowly from the orushSd-
blossoms through quarter-inoh layer Of
cold fat in shallow glass pans. From
twelve to seventy-two hours Is required
for the enheurage. depending upon the
varieties Of blossoms and the season Of the
year. -
BY calculated experiment and by aoci-
been brought to light concerning the art
Of the perfumer. White blossoms have
been found to yield the most fragrance
with those Of yellow and orange tints at +
the bottom Of the list. A strong light
decreases the odor Of perfumes. though
the sense OF smeh is strongest when that
Of sight is enfeebled. -:
It Is a curious fact that the ethereal
extract Of any flower resembles the per- !.
fume of that flower very little, The
.odor peculiar to the rose and jonquil
is a combination OF ethereal essences
which is only arrived at by long and 10
dious process.
Nearly every odor requires different
process to bring out it's fall value. Lilies,
strangely enough. give out an odor re- .
sembling that OF the rose, while the ross
quite a different perfume from that nat !,
urally looked for and the scent Of any and .
all blossoms except the jasmine. can be
fabrca ted by the scientific combination
OF the ottos Of many different flowers -.
1t is comparatively recently that real
called violet perfume Of generation ago
scarcely resembled the natural odor OF
the flower. though it was actually pre-
pared from it. The odor Of the violet
exists in infinitesimal quantities In each
flower and Is also very difficult to ex-
tro