PERFUMERY 535 



does not adhere is shaken out. The caps are varnished, and preserved for use. See 

 FULMINATES. 



PERFU1VIERY, ART OP, (Parfumerie, Fr. ; Wohlriechende Kunst, Ger.) con- 

 sists in the extraction of the odours of plants ; isolating them A and B and in 

 combining them with inodorous materials, such as grease, C ; spirit, D ; starch, E ; 

 soaps, F : also in the manufacture of cosmetics, G ; dentifrices, pastes, tinctures, H ; 

 incense and pastils, I ; pomades, oil, and other toilet-appendages, K ; hair-washes, 

 hair-dyes, and depilatories, L. 



(A and B.) There are three distinct methods of procuring the odours of plants : 

 1st. By DISTILLATION. If cloves, cinnamon-bark, or the odorous leaves of plants or 

 wood, be distilled, the fragrant principle contained therein rises with the steam, which 

 being condensed, the otto, or essential oil, will be found floating upon the water. 

 This process has already been described (see DISTILLATION ; REFRIGERATION ; OTTOS ; 

 OILS, VOLATILE ; but can only be beneficially applied by the perfumer to the procuring 

 of certain odours : from woods, such as santal and cedar ; from leaves, such at> 

 patchouli and bay leaves ; from various grasses, such as the lemon grass and citronella 

 of Ceylon ; from several seeds, such as carraway and nutmeg ; and but to two or 

 three flowers, such as orange-blossom, rose, and lavender. The various fragrant 

 woods, seeds, and leaves are, however, almost as numerous as there are plants upon 

 the earth, and as a consequence, the perfumer can have as great a variety of ottos by 

 distilling for them. 



(C.) 2nd. ENFLEURAGE. When it is desired to obtain the odours of flowers, such as 

 those of jasmin, acacia, violet, tuberose, jonquil, and numerous others, the process of 

 distillation is inapplicable and useless, and that peculiar but simple method, termed 

 ' Enfleurage,' must be adopted. This plan is founded on the fact, that greasy bodie? 

 readily absorb odorous particles, and will as freely part with them if in contact with 

 pure alcohol. The operation of enfleurage is thus conducted at Messrs. Piesse and 

 Lubin's laboratory of flowers, near Nice, in France. 



Purification of the grease. A. corps, or body grease, is first produced by melting 

 together equal parts of deer- or beef-suet (the former is preferred), mutton-suet, and 

 lard ; it is then clarified thus : Take 1 cwt. of grease, divide it into portions of about 

 2 Ibs., place one of these in a mortar and well pound it ; when it is well crushed, wash 

 it with water repeatedly, so long, in fact, until the water is as clear, after withdrawing 

 the grease, as before it was put in. The several lots of grease prepared in this way 

 have now to be melted over a slow fire, adding thereto about 3 ounces of crystallised 

 ilum in powder and a handful of sea salt (common salt) ; now let the grease boil, 

 but allow it to bubble for a few seconds only ; then strain the grease through a fine 

 linen into a deep pan, and allow it to stand to clear itself from impurities for about two 

 or three hours. The clear grease is then again put into the melting vessel over a char- 

 coal fire, adding thereto about three or four quarts of rose-water and half a pound of 

 powdered gum benzoin ; it is then allowed to boil gently, and all scum that rises care- 

 fully removed until it ceases to be produced. Finally, the grease is poured into deep 

 pans to cool ; when solid it is removed off the sedimentary water, and again being 

 liquefied may be placed in store vessels for future use, where it may be kept for an 

 indefinite period without change or becoming rancid. This purification of the grease 

 gives employment to those engaged in the laboratory at a season when the flowers are 

 not in bloom. M. Herman of Cannes, and M. Pilar of Grasse, prepare in this way 

 during winter, together, one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of perfectly inodo- 

 rous. grease. 



The growers of the flowers of course pay due attention to their cultivation, so as to 

 produce an abundance of blossom in due season. Although it is not necessary that 

 the flower-farmer should be a perfumery-factor, it is useful that the latter should 

 have some knowledge of the former avocation, so as to be prepared for each 

 harvest of flowers as they succeed each other, and when it is practicable to unite the 

 occupations ; better pecuniary results follow. At Cannes and Grasse, in France, which 

 are separated from the frontier of Sardinia only by the river Var, and are distant 

 from Nice about 30 miles, the entire population is more or less interested in this 

 particular manufacture. The various flowers there cultivated do not come into 

 blossom at one time, but in succession ; so that there is ample time to attend to each 

 in turn. 



The enfleurage process is thus conducted : Square frames, varying in size from 20 

 to 30 inches are made, in the centre of which is fixed a piece of stout glass as in 

 fi(f. 1613. Each frame is 1^ inch deep from the top edge to the glass, so that if two 

 frames be placed together face to face, there is, as it were, a glass box with a wooden 

 frame, having a depth of 3 inches between each glass. This affords ample room for 

 the blossoms to lie between them \vithoxit being crushed. In due season, that is, when 

 the flowers begin to bloom, about half a pound of the purified grease is spread upon 



