THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 411 



tained in the calices of the Azalea pontica, which he ob- 

 served to be poisonous. 



The hand of Providence draws freely from the vegetable 

 kingdom to satisfy our pleasures and our wants. 



The petals of the rose, the jasmine, and the tuberose are 

 steeped in precious essences, which perfume the air all 

 round them, and of which art bereaves them in large quan- 

 tities for the refinements of luxury. 1 



Other plants of more modest appearance, such as mint, 

 rosemary, balm, and lavender, are better provided in this 

 respect, for their odoriferous oils exhale from all their 

 tissues, and they pour them forth even more freely than 

 the others. The species which contain them sometimes be- 

 tray themselves by perfuming the air to a great distance. 

 Bartholin tells us that the odor of the rosemary indicates 

 the coast of Spain more than ten leagues out at sea, and the 



1 The tissues of the plants of India, Mexico, and Peru are impregnated with 

 precious aromatics, but it is from the south of Europe that commerce draws the 

 principal part of the perfumes which we enjoy. The mild temperature of Pro- 

 vence is wonderfully suited to the cidture of the sweet-smelling plants of all coun- 

 tries, and hence this province is familiarly styled the garden of Europe. This 

 cultivation is carried on chiefly in the environs of Grasse, Nice, and Cannes. 



The consumption of flowers in the establishment of M. Hermann alone, one of 

 the principal perfumers of Cannes, will give an idea of the importance of this 

 branch of commerce. He uses yearly above 153,000 lbs. of orange flowers, 13,000 

 lbs. of black-currant flowers, more than 153,000 lbs. of rose flowers, 35,000 lbs. 

 of jasmine flowers, 22,000 lbs. of violets, 8800 lbs. of tuberoses, without counting 

 the mint and rosemary which are so common all through Provence. [Great quan- 

 tities of the flowers grown in the south of France are used by the London per- 

 fumers, and the flower season is watched as anxiously there as the grain harvest 

 in other districts. The only blossom for which this climate is better suited than 

 any other, and which is used to any extent by perfumers, is that of lavender, the 

 French being of very inferior quality. Tr.] 



