244 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[August, 



are made, until the proper strength is attained. 

 The perfumed pomade is then scraped off, very 

 gently melted in a water-bath, and canned for 

 shipment like the infused pomades. By a very 

 late invention a netted wire screen, like that used 

 lor the oils, is covered with flower petals, then slid 

 in between the glass sashes, and the whole closed 

 in with doors to keep them air-tight. 



In preparing the oils, coarse, heavy, spongy 

 cotton cloths, made especially for this purpose at 

 Marseilles, are saturated with virgin Olive oil and 

 spread upon the netted frames ; then flowers are 

 thickly strewn upon them, and they are piled 

 on one another like the pomade frames. After 

 several daily renewals and the oiled cloths are 

 sufficiently charged with the odors the scented oil 

 is expressed from the cloths by powerful levers and 

 sealed in large metal cans or bottles for shipment. 



The most costly of all the pomades and oils 

 made in Grasse are those of the Violet, which is 

 grown mainly at Nice, about 12 miles distant, 

 under the shade of trees, and yields a pure, deli- 

 cate and delightful perfume. It was the favorite 

 odor of the Athenians under Pericles, and is now 

 one of the most fashionable scents in use by the 

 Parisian beau-monde. 



Many hundred-weights of flowers and herbs are 

 dried annually and are used in medicine, in 

 cookery, in the composition of scent-bags, cachous 

 for the breath, fuming pastils for the sick chamber, 

 and kindred compounds of the perfumer's art. 



The last, and by no means one of the least im- 

 portant of the processes of which I shall speak, is 

 the distillation of perfumed waters and essential 

 oils, which is done at one operation. To explain 

 it a single example will suffice, that of the orange 

 flower. 



The still consists of four principal parts, the re- 

 tort, in which the substances to be distilled are 

 placed and subjected to the action of the fire be- 

 neath it — the worm, through which the vapors 

 arising from the distillation pass through the 

 cooler — by means of which they are condensed 

 again into liquid form, into the receiver, when they 

 are ready for use. The retort is partly filled with 

 water and a certain quantity of the petals of the 

 Orange flower are added to it, and left to soak, 

 say over night. The fire is kindled, the scented 

 water is converted into vapor, which passes through 

 the worm, and into the receiver. The cooler is 

 kept supplied with cold water by a funnel through 

 a tube which carries it to the bottom of the cooler 

 and escapes by an overflow at the top. 



The Orange Flower water thus obtained has float- 



ing upon it drops of an essential oil, of great strength, 

 which is gathered as it accumulates, and is care- 

 fully filtered ; this is the famous Oil of Neroli, so 

 indispensable in the manufacture of fine Cologne 

 water. In the same way. Rose water and Otto of 

 Roses are distilled. 



As many as twenty-four kinds and varieties 

 of essential oils are distilled at Grasse, from 

 flowers, the leaves of trees, herbs, roots, and the 

 bark and wood also of trees. It remains for me 

 only to speak of the perfumes derived from fruits 

 and from animals. 



The fruit perfumes are mainly those of the 

 Orange, Lemon and Bergamot; small quantities 

 only are made of Cedrat and Limette. These are 

 are not distilled but simply pressed out of the peel 

 or skin of these fruits, and filtered. They are not 

 produced in Grasse but in the Island of Sicily. 



The animal perfumes are three in number — 

 Musk, Civet and Ambergris — which play an im- 

 portant part in the composition of many rich per- 

 fumes, but like garlic in cookery, should be used 

 with such judgment and in such minute quantities 

 that their presence is not detected or suspected. 



The musk is a hairy, glandular sac, or pod as it 

 is called, about 2 inches in diameter, growing upon 

 the abdomen of the male musk deer, filled with a 

 viscid paste of a highly pungent odor. When 

 dried it loses most of its pungency and resembles 

 coarse-grained black snuff. A room has been per- 

 ceptibly scented by a single grain of it for thirty 

 years, without apparent loss of weight, and speci- 

 mens known to be one hundred years old, were as 

 strong as the fresh article. 



Civet is a resinous exudation obtained from a 

 pouch or sac of the Civet Cat, and in appearance 

 somewhat resembles shoemaker's wax. 



Ambergris is found on the shores of Madagascar, 

 Surinam and Java. It is the result of a disease of 

 the liver of the Sperm Whale, and is often found 

 by whalers in the bowels of the animal. Fine 

 grain Musk and gray Ambergris are each worth, 

 at the present time, about S30 the ounce. 



There are many other substances that have a 

 distinctive fragrance, and are used in the art of 

 perfumery — mostly well-known — which my limits 

 will only permit me to name ; such as the Bitter 

 Almond, Balsams of Tolu and Peru, Gum Benzoin, 

 Cinnamon, Cloves, Mace, Nutmeg, Orris-root, 

 Tonka Bean, and Vanilla. 



To return, for a moment, to Grasse. The 

 flower farms receive the highest garden culture, 

 and great attention is paid to irrigation ; in some 

 fields at Cannes there are complete net-works of 



