Evening star., 1937-08-08
Producing Perfumes in
A Laboratory Garden
BY FREDERIC J, HASEIN.

reference 10 all the perfumes OF Arab
the mind instinctively leaps to far, East
ern places whence so many of the per-
fumes the world knew for so long came.
Had she lived today she might we'll have
referred to all the perfumes OF the lab
oratory, for there is not a single bottled
perfume which does not owe some Of its
composition to chemical synthesis. In
deed, there are some flower perfumes in
the making OF which the flower has no
part at all beyond comforting its name.
In the story OF modern American
scientific development, there is no more
fascinating chapter than the laboratory
| evolution Of commercial perfumes. When
Shakespeare spoke Of painting the lily
and throwing perfume on the violet he
showed either an uncanny or an in
| Spired prescience.
One may walk in the garden, over the
meadow, or through the wildwood and
catch the WindbloWn scent of MANY a
blossom still-but it is unnecessary. More
perfumes than even Flora, the goddess
of flowers, ever dreamt of are to be had
from the counters of American depart
ment stores. Combinations of perfumes
have been employed to make wholly new
scents, scents unknown in nature. More
thetically which had previously proved
too elusive to insnare by natural means.
The old-fashioned method Of making
perfumes was to obtain the natural oils
OF the blossoms and refine them. In the
case OF the lilac, no process ever was
found which successfully would extract
its oil. None has yet. Nevertheless,
chemical science has produced a lilac
perfume which SO perfectly counterfeits
the flowers original scent that not even
Scotch gardener could tell them apart.
The same is true Of lily of the valley
which never has yielded it's essense. Yet
perfect lily of the valley scent has
been derived from-of all things-oil OF
Ctronella.
To revert to all the perfumes of Arabia.
One perfume in wide use today probably
has more scents in it than Lady Macbeth
had ever heard of-Seventeen-and all
captured in single essence. Its COM
ponents are muck, alcohol, coumarin, oak
moss. ylang- -ylang, lilac, sandalwood,
vetiver. styrax patchouli, jasmine, violet,
rose, lily of the valley, carnation, orange
blossom|and mimosa. Two of these, 1t
will be noted. are purely synthetic, the
lilac and the lily of the valley and, where
natural oils are used in connection with
some of the others. they are fortified or
modified by synthetic processes.
From the purely commercial point Of
view tremendous saving is realized by
the use of synthesis. When violet per-
fume was made from natural oils, twenty
tons Of violets were required to produce
a single ounce Of violet oil Today violet
perfume is made from by-products OF
coal tar. Similarly, ton Of roses was
necessary to produce ten ounces Of
natural OIL
What the perfume laboratories regard
as their chief triumph has been the
production of synthetic musk. OF all
perfumes musk is said to have the
greatest appeal to most human beings.
The musk-rose of Lycidas and OF Mid
summer Nights Dream and the "swirls
of musk of which James Whitcomb
Riley speaks emphasize the preoccupa
ton with this curious scent. Natural
musk comes from a gland secretion of
the musk OK, wild creature of the Tibet
highlands. So rare had these creatures
become because Of constant hunting that
musk in the raw state had reached a
price of $3.50 a pound. awhile a pound Of
purified musk would be worth $4,000.
Patient chemical research has devel-
oped a musk scent that never vas|
nearer Tibet than Wilmington. Del, yet
is indstinguishable. The great value Of
musk is that it is what perfumers call a
fixative. 1t is sort of blending agent
which brings all component essences of
a perfume into aromatic harmony and
preserves the effect. An interesting fact
is that synthetic perfumes keep their
freshness longer than those made from
natural oils.
An oddity about perfumes is that the
bases Of many consist of most evil
smelling matter. The most evi-smelling
of all is civet. This is a secretion of the
civet cat and most Of it comes from
Ethiopia 1t is so offensive that trans
portation agencies will not handle it
unless it is tightly sealed. Yet civet is
the base of some of the finest perfumes.
Castoreum, obtained from the beaver. Is
another animal perfume constituent,
while ambergris comes from whale.
The latter is extremely valuable. 1t Is
picked up on beaches occasionally, or
by sailors at sea. A piece has been
found worth $4,000.
The perfumers' art is high specially.
1t is said that it is difficult to set a
formula definitely. The perfumer must
experiment He has some rules, how
ever The chief odor must be subtle
rather than strong. A strong perfume
ceases to be perfume in the true sense.
| in that it serves to paralyze the sense
of smell just as loud noise deafens or
| flash. as OF lightning, blinds,
There are four principal odor types.
| These four must be used in combination
| to make pleasing perfume. First there
! is the sweet odor. next the acid, third
| the burnt, and last what is known as the
! goat odor These may be used in varying
combinations, the perfumer emphasizing
! and minimizing the parts as an orchestra
| leader might swell and modulate his
strings, his WoodWinds, his braSSes. or
| his drums The course Of manufacture
| is a rather tedious one. There are many
| processes through which the various in
| gradients must pass before a completed
product appears. The field Is constantly
being broadened. Where but a short
time ago only about 200 perfume mate
rails were employed, now the number
exceeds one thousand.
In addition to the liquid perfume