MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 133 
pared with the greatest skill in Egypt.’’ There is no refer- 
ence in this writer’s work to suggest a knowledge of distilla- 
tion, and it was not until the tenth century that the process 
was discovered by Avicenna, an Arabian doctor. Previous 
to this period perfumery consisted of resins, spices, oils, or 
ointments, scented by contact with fragrant substances. 
Five hundred years have passed since the people of south- 
ern France have learned the secret of extracting the perfume 
of flowers and preserving it. The largest industry for the 
manufacture of natural perfumes is located in Grasse, at the 
factory of Bruno Court, where 115,000 acres are cultivated 
for the production of flowers. Every year an average of 
1,860 tons of orange blossoms, 930 tons of roses, 147 tons of 
violets, and 127 tons of jasmine, ete., are picked by hand and 
carried to the factory where they are sorted and the stamens 
and pistils separated. Since the average weight of a jasmine 
flower is about 120 milligrams, approximately five billion blos- 
soms are annually picked by hand. It is interesting to note 
that two-thirds of the flower pickers of Grasse live to the age 
of seventy. 
The principal methods of procuring the aroma from the 
flowers are maceration, enfleurage, and distillation. The 
odors of all vegetable matter are contained in a constituent 
called otto. This essential oil, or otto, is always present in a 
liquid form varying in color from light straw to dark red or 
brown and possessing the odor of the substance from which 
it is derived. As it exists in such small proportion, when 
isolated, a remarkable concentration of odor is contained. 
The yield of otto varies according to the material. For 
example, nutmeg and lemon rind contain six per cent or more 
and can profitably be extracted by expression. Roses, how- 
ever, yield a very low percentage, so little that one hundred 
pounds of petals will furnish but three teaspoonfuls of otto. 
The process of distillation is generally known, consisting of 
vaporizing a liquid in a closed vessel and conducting the 
vapor to a receiver in which it is condensed by the applica- 
tion of cold water. When the flowers are placed in the still 
with the correct proportion of water and heat applied the 
otto, being volatile, rises with the steam, and both being con- 
densed together, readily separate when cool. The water dis- 
tillate from the flowers is conserved in huge containers to be 
used again, or sold as distilled water, rose water, jasmine 
water, ete. : 
: The more delicate flowers, as tuberose, jonquil, and jasmine, 
impart their fragrance by the cold enfleurage process. The 
