9 o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



cases, the perfume continues to be given out, and is absorbed by the 

 grease. Contemplating the matter from this point of view, we are 

 astonished at the sagacity of the perfume extractors of past ages, 

 which enabled them to perceive that some flowers could be treated 

 only by this absorption process, and to co-ordinate their operations 

 so logically that the method could not have been better adapted to 

 its purpose if it had been adjusted after a careful study of the physio- 

 logical principles involved. Everything in the process seems adapted 

 to the prolongation of the life of the flower. The close and conse- 

 quently moist atmosphere in which it is placed preserves it against 

 dying; the coolness of the apparatus prevents its wilting. The 

 flowers of the tuberose are picked just as the bud is about to open. 

 It blooms within the case, and gives out nearly all its perfume there. 



We draw from these observations the two lessons that the ex- 

 traction of natural perfumes is not, as is often believed, a question 

 of pure chemistry, but is primarily one of vegetable physiology; 

 and that in this domain, as in many others, practice is often in ad- 

 vance of theory. For my own part, I have never met with well- 

 established processes sanctioned by long use which do not rest upon 

 correct though frequently unconscious observations over which 

 theory has nothing to boast. 



As when people wanted to travel faster they devised the railroad 

 instead of improving the stagecoach, so the achievements of chemis- 

 try in the domain of perfumes have not been made in building up 

 the old industry, but through creating another. To enumerate and 

 describe the artificial products now used in perfumery would be 

 like composing a manual of chemistry. It will be of more interest 

 to indicate a few categories of syntheses or chemical fabrications, 

 and to point out the various chemical or financial questions they 

 raise, illustrating them severally by typical examples described in 

 detail. 



There are several kinds of synthesis. One kind consists in iso- 

 lating a natural principle, studying it, and trying to reproduce it. 

 Such a synthesis may be called a methodical one, as following out a 

 line traced from the beginning. Take, for example, the synthesis 

 of ionone, or artificial violet. The authors of this synthesis, MM. 

 Tiemann and Kriiger, started with the natural perfume of iris root, 

 which they found to be very characteristic and fixed. It was conse- 

 quently considered to be a single very definite and stable substance. 

 All these conditions were favorable. The preliminary researches 

 of the authors showed that this substance existed in extremely weak 

 proportions in iris powder. The proposed synthesis, therefore, 

 promised to be lucrative; for, while all chemical syntheses are inter- 

 esting, the probable financial bearing of the discovery is of consider- 



