The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-10-08
Frederick Haskm's Letter.
&C.,. ca.7x<nondence Of Axu.1
The Perfuraer at Work.
Especial Correspondence OF

kettles from SICILY and Italy. OIL
of lemon in kettles is one OF the
few essences which would be reeoy.
nized here by the average person
from the odor. II smells just Ike
the peel-strong, pleasantly pun.
gent. Cumarin powder from Holland
is another pleasant smelling ingred-
lent, giving the fresh scent Of new $
moyn hay.
But the climax OF the smelling
tour is not reached. The head chem
list picks up q COW horn. such as the
pioneers once used for sun pow
der. There is a leather pouch fas-
tened over the top. This he eau
tiougIy removes, warning the visit
or TO inhale with discretion. It is
timely warning for the scent so
carefully packed for shipping is
that OF civet from the ciVet cat-a
smell well known for its nauseating
potency. Northern Africa contrib
utes this delicacy 10 the perfumer,
sending it in horns like the one
described. This is the most pow
erfuI odor OF the entire collection.
even outranking musk. which IS
seen. and smelled nearby.
Mtfsk, from the musk-deer, has
the appearance Of dark brown pod
and smells damp and musty with a
faint suggestion of old leather in
its bouquet The value of the dingy
brown musk pods is in direct con-
trast TO their esthetic appeal. The
pods are bought through a French
bank Special messengers carry the
musk in small bags, each worth
perhaps $1,000. Musk brings $500
pound.
Most people" the chemist e1-
planned, have no idea that these
heavy animal odOrs play an in
portaut- part in almost every per-
fuue. The public thinks that rose
perfume is q single odor. As
matter of fact, a rose preparation
would probably include not only
the delicate floral essence. but an
sandaIwood, or patchOuli-tO
round it out and give it bouquet,
and then one of the heavies, such
as musk, civet, or ambergris Tor a
fixatiye.
THE complete perfume may Do
with the animal doors for under
tones in the bass clef, and the floral
essences for the melody in the
treble. Odors have different tonal
values. Certain ones blend, and If
combined in balanced proportions
there is harmony. Otherwise there
may be discord of scent just as VIC
lent as any discord in music.
There are two kinds of perfumes
There are the perfumes that rep
resent some particular flower, and
there are the composites OF bod-
Duets which contain sometimes 40
different odors gathered from the
four corners of the earth.
Perfume and Character.
These bouquets, he explained, are
now very popular IN this country
though rose and violet are alEays
best sellers. The single flower Fsr-
fume is generally preferred By
strongly individualistiC persons.
The perfumes a woman uses Is
as good an index of character Is
the music she likes. The Russian
perfumes are heavy. almost or
entail, with d suggestion OF leather.
Oriental perfumes easily call up
the mysterious east Americans
prefer the more delicate and spirit
ual scents.
The chemist tells US that per-
fume is more widely used now than
ever in history. When Louis XIV
demanded a new perfume Originat-
ed specially for him each day, and
farther back, when Greek arIsto-
Gratis bathed in violet scented foun-
tains, and Rome tried 10 make laws
to keep her wealthy men from an
nointing themselves three times &
day and using different perfumes
on different parts Of the body-ln
all those times perfume was the
most precious possession OF the
patrician class. A gift OF myrrn,
spikenard, or aloes was a prlncety
offering. Today perfume is within
reach of practically everyone
AS generally as it is used, there
are things about perfume that
people do not always understand.
One is that a perfume is four times
as strong as toilet water The lat
ter may be sprayed without mucn
danger OF turning OneSeII lnIo Il
walking flower garden, but a per
fume should be dispensed less gen
erously. Its scent is far more con-
centrated and lasting. A drop or
two is sufficient
Another fact that perfume-users
might remember 10 advantage IN
selecting essences is that some
doors are what is known as dry.
Violet is one of these. A dry odor
cannot be judged satisfactorily
from the bottle II should be
sprayed or dropped on something
and allowed to dry. In fact. almost
any perfume can he better pronoun-
ced upon in tnis way. as a sniff al
one bottle of strong essence is apt
to paralyze the olfactory sense, and
after that the purchaser can scarce
ly judge of the other samples Of
fered.