258 Dr. Adolf Liehmann [Feb. 27, 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, February 27, 1903. 



His Grace The Duke op Northumberland, K.G. D.C.L. F.R.S., 

 President, in the Chair. 



Adolf Liebmann, Esq., M.A. Ph.D. M.B.I. 



Perfumes^ Natural and Artificial. 



History teaches that perfumes have been known and used ever since 

 historical records have been kept. Even the Ayur Vedas (the book 

 of life), which contains the earliest traditions of the Sanskrit literature, 

 mentions attar of roses, oil of antropogon and of calmus, and the way 

 of producing them. 



In the same way, the mythical documents of the ancient Persians 

 prove that perfumes were known to them, but foremost among the 

 ancient nations who were acquainted with perfumes, and their mode 

 of production, were the Egyptians, who probably obtained them in 

 a purified form. 



The Egyptian culture spreading to Europe, imparted the know- 

 ledge of the East and the love for scents to their western neighbours, 

 and Greece, as well as Eome, used, especially during the prosperous 

 times, the extracts of flowers for perfumery as well as for medicinal 

 purposes. 



Later on, the Moors contributed largely to the evolution of know- 

 ledge on this subject, and Messue described in his book, 'Antido- 

 tarium,' in a special chapter ' De Oleis,' the preparation of essential 

 oils. 



In the middle ages, distillation, rediscovered in the fifteenth cen- 

 tury, introduced the possibility of obtaining purer and more fragrant 

 products, and as a consequence the production of perfumes proper 

 was started as an industry in the south-west of France. 



Scientific exploration of the chemistry of essential oils was, how- 

 ever, only possible after the great discoveries of Cavendish, Priestley 

 and Lavoisier. From that time chemists began to devote their atten- 

 tion to perfumes, and their researches, although not explaining the 

 structure and nature of these compounds, nevertheless contributed 

 considerably to our knowledge of the subject. It was left to Wallach's 

 and Bayer's classical researches to demonstrate the nature of terpenes, 

 and their derivatives, which form part of nearly all essential oils. 



Terpenes are cyclic compounds. Semler proved, on examining a 

 number of alcohols and aldehydes, geraniol, linalool, citral and 

 citroucUal, frequently found in essential oils, that they belong to the 



