The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1909-09-23

Rivferas Perfmsaes she Weraa.
The sweetest t0wu In the world Is
Grasse. In the foothills back of Cannes
on the French Riviera. All through
the year Grasse Is really one big buo'
bling caldron where are distilled gal
Ions. barrels. hogsheads Of perfumes
In the spring ~violets. roses and mar
cissus form the principal ingredients,
in the fall jasmine and tuberose. All
the flowers are grown In the onea sun.
except the violess. which. requiring
shade. are hidden between rows OF
olive trees.
The flower piekers OF Grasse and
tina flower girls and nower women OF
the "Jeu de Ballon." says the Lady's
Pictorial. form a far more picturesque
element than the perfnmemakers OF
the factories where the fragrance Is
distilled. CoiTed with great. fiat. pan
cake hats Of plated straw the flower
pickers cannot fail to impress one.
With them are their helpers with
square Aowerladen baskets on their
backs and a smile-the traditional
smile of southern Europe-on their
faces.
AS for the process by which the per
fumery OF commerce is made. il IS as
varied as the flowers which make up
the ingredients. Primarily the essen
tial oil or otto OF a flower Is obtained
only BY di~stillation. The residue Is
then mixed with clarified or refined
pork rat by boiling in great copper
kettles and being stirred constantly
with a wooden pestle during the oper
alton.
1t Is this boiling down with fat that
gathers the perfume to itself The
impermeated grease Is then churned
up with refined alcohol in another cal
dron until all. or nearly ali. the per
fume has passed into the spirit.
The fat remaining. with a slight
impregnation still left TO II. is made
into soap. q ~by-product which Is no in
considerable factor in the urnove OF
the establishment though often enough
this leftover product IS simply sold 10
another concern whose business It Is
TO work 1t up into toilet soap and sell
il under more or less poetic anne
A more primitive method Of making
perfume ia that which was In use az
the beginning OF the industry 81
Grasse. This method prescribes that
coarse linen or cotton cloth should be
first impregnated with the finest olive
oil. then stretched on a ganze wire
frame.
Upon this cloth are placed thin lay
ers OF flowers. the layers being
changed many times until the oil-im-
pregnated cloth has absorbed a satu-
rated solution OF oil and perfume. This
cloth and its precious burden are aft
erward treated with an alcohol bath.
which In turn separates the perfume
from the oil.
Another method for extracting the
perfumes from the flowers Is that Of
enneurage- BY this means the most
delicate OF essences ara yielded indt
rectly by being allowed to filter slow
ly from the crushed blossoms through
a quarterinch layer OF cold fat In
shallow glass pans. From twelve TO
seventy-two hours is required for the
snfeurage. depending upon ths varis-
ties Of blossoms and the season Of the
year.
By calculated experiment and BY &C
eident as well many curious truths
have been brought to light concerning
the art Of the perfumer. White blos
have been found TO yield the
most fragrance. with those OF yellow
and orange nuts at the bottom OF the
list. A strong light decreases the
odor Of perfumes, though this may be
accounted for by the fact that the
OF smell Is stronger when that
sight Is enfesbled.
It Is a curious fact that the ethereal
OF any flower resembles the
perfume OF that flower very little. The
odor peculiar TO the rose and tonqui1
ID q combination Of ethereal essences
#hich is only arrived az By q long and
process. j
Nearly every odor requires a differ
mt process to bring out It's full value
Lilies, strangely enough, give out an
resembling that Of the rose, while
he rose and the orange flower (ne 4,
'oli) each yield quite a different per
ume from that naturally looked for :
nd the scent Of any and all blossoms
Ixcept the Jasmine can be fabricated I
the scientific combination Of the
Of many different flowers. !
It is comparatively recently that a !
cal violet perfume has been made. :
he so-called violet perfume Of a gen :
ago scarcely resembled tbs !
atural odor Of the flower. though It J
ras actually prepared from it. The !
dor Of the violet exists in innnitesL !
aal quantities in each flower and is !
lao very difficult to extract !