B. P. I. — 608. 



THE PRODUCTION OF VOLATILE OILS AND PER- 

 FUMERY PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



INTRODUCTIOlSr. 



The use of aromatics and perfiunery dates back to the early a^^es 

 when spices, balsams, asafetida, and other resinous exudations, many 

 of which possess agreeable odors, were used for the purpose of scent- 

 ing. The peculiar, agreeable aromas emanating from plants grow- 

 ing in their native habitats may be supposed to have early aroused 

 the attention and admiration of the primitive peoples, although it 

 may not have been known in what forms plants and flowers possessed 

 their aromas. Before the art of distillation was known, the ancient 

 peoples used the odoriferous plants and spices in their dried forms 

 for their agreeable odors. Gradually, however, the development of 

 special utensils for other domestic purposes may have resulted in the 

 discovery of methods for the separation of odors from plants and 

 plant products. 



The use of distilling apparatus by the ancients in their endeavor 

 to solve the problem of the transmutation of the elements and in 

 other researches requiring the .separation of volatile from nonvolatile 

 substances antedates its use for the pi'oduction of essential oils and 

 perfumes, but it was probably learned at an early date that the odors 

 present in plants and plant exudations were capable of separation 

 because of their greater volatility when compared with the other con- 

 stituents present. The first mention in ancient Greek writings of 

 the separation of an odor from a crude substance is that of the oil 

 of cedar, which was separated from the oleoresin by means of the 

 crudest form of apparatus. This consisted of an open earthen kettle 

 in which the oleoresin was boiled with water, the vapors of steam 

 and oil being collected in layers of wool so placed that the steam from 

 the kettle passed through the wool, which served as a condenser and 

 retained the oil and water. Gradually this apparatus was trans- 

 formed until it consisted of two definitely related parts, the kettle, or 

 body of the still, and the removable head, which, besides closing the 

 kettle, also acted as a condensing device on account of its exposure of 

 a large surface to the air. Further improvements were made from 



195 



